Older Brothers
by ReneyyySprouse
Summary: Three shot plus a lengthy intro - If Zack and Cody thought it was hard only having to look out for each other, just wait until they find themselves having to protect their new baby half sister from the last person they ever expected.
1. Introduction

**Introduction - Meeting Leila.**

**4th of September, 2003.**

Cody hastily paced back and forth through the waiting room with his head bowed and his hands joined behind his back. The soles of his red converse shoes scrapped across the tiled floor in a squeaking sound with every step he took, and this along with the incessant ticking that echoed from the clock on the wall eventually caused his brother, Zack, to speak up.

"Would you stop?"

Cody's ten year old eyes shot up to meet the identical ones that stared back at him.

"If you keep walking in that same spot you're gonna put a hole in the floor." Zack spoke again from where he sat in an uncomfortable looking gray chair against the side wall of the waiting room.

Cody shook his head at his older brother's sarcasm and went right back to striding from side to side, "This isn't funny, Zack." He retorted, "Our whole world's about to go down the tubes."

Zack groaned in annoyance at Cody's negativity and ran a hand through his short length blonde hair.

"Is this gonna be like the time you were complaining about Mum marrying John in the first place?"

Cody froze on the spot at the question that came from Zack as he was instantly thrown into a subconscious loop of a bunch of memories he was all too familiar with thinking about.

A lot had changed in the past year for the Martin twins. A one bedroom apartment in the middle of Boston hadn't exactly been the fresh start they were expecting when their parents had finally settled their divorce agreements. Their mum, Carey, was doing anything and everything she could to keep a healthy amount of money in the bank, but the odd gig here and there every night of the weekend didn't quite make the budget she would've liked, even for someone with a singing voice as great as hers. Of course Kurt, their father, was still helping wherever he could – they were still his sons after all, but no matter what they tried, there was always something about the way Carey and the boys lived that only allowed them to enjoy the necessities in life.

Although, it was certainly amazing how quickly things could turn around. For a popular bar in downtown Boston, it had been quite a disappointing turn out one evening for one of Carey's cabaret performances. There were a hand full of people sitting around enjoying a quiet drink, but no-one seemed all that interested in the act Carey was putting on. That was, until, she caught eyes with one man who was gazing at her from where he leant against the bar. Jonathan Mackenzie, the head manager of Boston's number one newspaper, introduced himself to Carey after her show. Maybe it was the deep blue colour of his eyes, the soft blonde tinge in his dark hair, or the intriguing mystique that came with his immense stature, but something about the man made the two immediately click. The chemistry they had, Carey thought, was similar to what she suspected she could've had with the drummer in Kurt's band if Kurt hadn't kept getting in their way. Only what she felt with John was about a million times better.

Carey and John had been dating steadily for a year when he finally popped the question. At first, Carey was uneasy about the idea of getting married again. And after one failed marriage, she couldn't really be blamed for that, but there were so many overwhelming positives she saw about her relationship with John to ignore. For one he was trustworthy, affectionate, funny, charming – everything she could possibly ask for in a man. She saw a real future with him, but more importantly than anything else, he got along with Zack and Cody incredibly well.

Zack had been too engrossed in his video game at the time when Carey told him and Cody about the engagement, however judging by the way that Cody dropped his gaming controller to the ground and ran into his and Zack's bedroom slamming the door behind him, it was pretty clear that he was less than thrilled about the announcement. It was Zack who got through to him in the end. Between arguing Carey's happiness, the financial security that could be brought to the family and the fact that John had gone halves with Carey in buying the boys' Playstation 2 for them for Christmas, Cody was only destined to give in sooner or later.

After the wedding Zack, Cody and Carey all moved into John's high rise apartment in the centre of main stream Boston. Through advertisements in John's newspaper Carey was also receiving more flattering performance opportunities, and in turn was able to start making a better life for the twins to live in. What's more, Zack and Cody learnt very quickly what and awesome step dad John was, the true reality of things crushing Cody's initial skepticism towards the man's addition to the family. Everything, for once in their lives, was perfect.

Shaking his head in an effort to erase the images from his mind, Cody looked back up at Zack and then slumped down into the chair next to him.

"This is different." Cody spoke assertively, "We were already used to having John around all the time. Besides, I was only really worried that we weren't gonna see Dad much anymore. But we still do."

"So why do you think this will be any different?" Zack asked, starting to sound irritated by the lack of sense coming from his brother.

"Because," Cody began, "this is going to change everything! Our life as we know it is over."

Falling into silence, Zack shot Cody a look of disbelief, "Cody," Zack said, the tone of his voice matching the look on his face, "it's a baby, not a weapon of mass construction."

"_Des_truction." Cody corrected half heartedly.

For the past nine months every mention of that 'B' word had thrown Cody off track. He had already been through enough changes to last him a life time, and frankly he wasn't sure how much more he was willing to put up with, or how much longer it would take for one of these altercations to turn into a bad one.

"Whatever." Zack replied, "I'm just saying that you better stop acting like a baby before the little he slash she finally gets here."

Cody shifted his vision to his brother to see that Zack had concluded his statement with a wide spread grin that stretched across his face at the mention of the little bundle of joy. He then felt his heart sink and his own expression drop.

"Why are you so excited about this anyway?!" Cody snapped, much to Zack's surprise, "You've already got me! Isn't that enough?"

Zack's face softened as something Cody said to him, at long last, made sense. He took a few seconds to look over his shoulder at the door to the room just to make sure that they were still alone. All the other expectant siblings, grandparents, aunties, uncles or anyone else that had shown up were all in the corridor of the maternity ward, but Zack and Cody had been left in the waiting room so the receptionist could keep an eye on them.

Turning back to Cody, Zack calmed his tone of voice, "Is that what all this is about?"

Cody shrugged his shoulders as his only means of response causing Zack to sigh at the stubbornness he wasn't used to dealing with from his brother.

"You think I'm gonna like the new baby more than you?"

Cody gazed down at the floor and shrugged his shoulders again, "Sorta." He confessed faintly before continuing straight away, "Cause, like, Mum and John are gonna be busy with the baby all the time, and you seem really happy about everything, I just don't want to… disappear."

"Disappear?" Zack repeated.

Even though Zack and Cody had lived and breathed the same air for the past ten years and ten months, and as much as this may have been more the attitude he was prone to expect from his brother, the fearful expression that caked Cody's voice was still enough to take a brutal tug at Zack's heart strings.

"Cody, you're my twin brother," he said, resting a hand on Cody's shoulder, "I'm not going to let you disappear. It's always been you and me against the world, and it always will be, ok?"

Cody's head lifted at the sound of reassurance from Zack. He matched the smile that was still being directed at him then confidently nodded his head, "Ok. Thanks Zack."

Before another single word could be said, loud footsteps were suddenly heard booming up the corridor, and in a matter of seconds the door to the waiting room was flung open cutting right through the adoring brotherly moment.

"Boys!"

Zack and Cody both looked up to see the massive six foot tall figure of their step father, John, standing in the doorway. Although, the greatness of his height was immensely outdone by the immeasurable appearance of happiness that lay across his face.

"What is it?" The twins asked in unison.

Failing to leave them waiting on an answer, John replied instantly, "There's someone in here who wants to meet you."

Feeling overcome with excitement and angst, and not being entirely sure how to react, Zack and Cody both stood shakily and followed a very energized John up the long, white hallway.

At least there was one thing that the twins could be completely sure of, and that was that John was going to be an amazing father to the new baby, just like he was great to them. But after being pulled out of school half way through the day and then left by themselves in the small waiting room for what seemed like forever, both Zack and Cody just hoped that what was about to happen in their lives was going to take just as much as a positive effect on them, too.

Upon entering Carey's room, the boys could instantly tell how exhausted she was, though behind all the anticipated emotions there was an obvious sense of total bliss and ecstasy as she gazed down at the petite bundle she held in her arms. Zack and Cody both assumed, to some extent of disappointment, that they had never seen her so happy, however they were soon proven wrong as Carey's expression of happiness grew to a million times the scale as she set eyes upon the twins standing in the entrance.

"There's my little men." She spoke gently, "Come say hi to the little girl."

"A girl?" Zack asked brightly.

While he ran to Carey's side and was swiftly followed by John, Cody staggered over slowly in the background and stood nervously at the end of the bed.

"Her name's Leila." Carey said, "Leila Elizabeth Mackenzie."

"She's so pretty." Zack commented, unable to take his eyes off his new sister.

Gradually allowing curiosity to get the better of him, Cody strolled closer to Carey and apprehensively looked over Zack's shoulder down at Leila. The instant that his eyes came into contact with her, Cody was swept over with wonderment. Zack looked on in delight as he felt all of Cody's primary perceptions of the baby fade away.

"She's so tiny." Cody finally managed to say.

Carey beamed at the emotions that had taken over both of the boys, "Do you want to hold her?" She asked.

Cody's eyes widened as he shot his vision up to Carey, "Won't I break her?"

Carey and John both laughed at the raw tone that came with the question from Cody, "Of course not, sweetie."

Carey then shifted her position on the bed carefully so as not to disrupt Leila and sat with her legs apart. She patted the spot on the bed as Cody uneasily climbed on and sat against her chest. She lowered Leila down into his lap with care and then showed him how to hold her with one hand around her legs and across her back and the other supporting her head.

Cody felt the warmth of Leila against his body as he powerlessly fixed his eyes upon her. Every gurgling, babbling, murmured baby sound she made drew him into her ambiance like she had him under a hypnotic spell. Her long eyelashes then parted as she forced her eyes open as wide as she could. The deep blue colour of each iris sucked Cody right in and gave him a sensation of pure awe.

"Wow." He said in sheer astonishment.

If this was the life changing, world ending event Cody had been talking about, then he was totally ready for it.

"Honey, do you want to let your brother hold her now?"

Permitting Leila to break him away from his trance, Cody gawked up at Carey before rapidly snapping his head back down to face his sister again,

"One more minute."

* * *

**Hey guys :)! It feels good to be back with a brand new story for yaz. What did you think of the little introduction I prepared? Did yaz like the interaction I made between a younger version of Zack and Cody and the new baby?**

**I'll just give you guys a quick run down of what I'm planning for this one. Not including the introduction, this story is a three-shot with each 'shot' taking place in a different time period that explores how the twins and their new sister grow up together. Each part is also like a short story, so expect that they'll probably be pretty long.**

**So, let me know what you think so far about the idea and the new characters I came up with and whether you think I should really get going on it or not. A nice amount of reviews to set off on would be really encouraging, by the way :) Thanks guys! **

**Reneyyyyyyyyy x.**


	2. Part One

* * *

'You had to have it all  
well have you had enough?  
You greedy little bastard  
you will get what you deserve.  
When all is said and done  
I will be the one  
to leave you in the misery  
and hate what you've become.'  
_**Had Enough, Breaking Benjamin.**_

* * *

******Part One - Scarred.**

**January, 2005.  
Saturday -**

"Hey, Leila?"

The adorable girl of sixteen months stood up and clung onto the side of her cot at the sound of her name. Her bright blue eyes widened and she twisted a finger through her wavy blonde hair with a playful grin on her face.

"Jack," she pronounced poorly as she gazed up at the elder of her two brothers.

Zack smiled at the cuteness that screamed from his little sister then revealed a white baseball from behind his back. He crept closer to Leila's cot and subtly looked over his shoulder to see Cody sitting cross legged on the floor packing something of his away in a box.

"Wanna throw this ball at Cody?" Zack asked.

Leila raised her brow and pointed noticeably at the other twin, "Coji?"

"Yes," Zack spoke softly, shushing Leila at the same time, "but you gotta be quiet so we can surprise him, ok?"

Zack raised a finger to his lips which Leila immediately imitated. As Cody continued to busy himself with whatever he was doing, Zack placed the ball firmly in Leila's grip. She looked at it plainly for about three seconds before simply dropping it in her cot.

"No, not like that," Zack murmured, "I'll show you."

He then reached into the cot, picked up the ball and placed it back in her hand. Next he made a soft grasp with his own hand around his sister's tiny wrist and looked back up to face her.

"Ready?"

Leila nodded enthusiastically with her finger still stuck needlessly against her lips. With a quick flick of her wrist, Zack watched in amusement as the ball flew across the room and landed with a gentle thud on the crown of Cody's head.

"Ow!" Cody yelped, more out of shock than pain. He spun his head around and shot daggers at his brother, "Zack!"

"Zack!" Carey echoed from the kitchen, "Leave your brother alone!"

"It wasn't me!" Zack shouted back in defense, "It was Leila!"

Cody glared at Zack in disbelief then switched his vision to the laughing image of Leila who sat comfortably in her cot.

"She's a baby!" Cody argued, "You helped her."

Zack sighed, "Remember that talk we had about being able to blame her for stuff?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember," Cody replied, "I just choose to ignore it when I want _you _getting in trouble."

Zack groaned at the sarcastic response from his brother, and then without a seconds' thought, he picked up the baseball and threw it at Cody again, this time at full twelve year old force. It thumped into his back before falling to the ground again, causing Cody to yell out once more - this time mostly in pain.

"Zack!" Carey roared in frustration as she marched into the boys' room, "If I have to ask you once more to – oh my gosh, look at the state of your room!"

A very guilty looking Zack stood in amongst the mess of his side of the shared room as Carey gazed on in horror at what she saw, "We're moving out of here in two days, and you still haven't started packing away any of your stuff?" She inquired accusingly.

Zack gawked around at the utter chaos that undermined the neatness of Cody's side of the room.

Carey was right, the Martin-Mackenzie's were moving out of the uptown Boston apartment and into the Tipton Hotel in a matter of days, and unlike Cody who was near enough ready to go and Leila whose room was completely empty, hence why her cot was in the boys' room, Zack hadn't lifted a finger.

"Not in so many words," Zack started awkwardly, "or in any words at all, really."

Carey sighed in disappointment and collapsed her head in her hands. With the past week or two that she and John had been through organising all the paper work and whatnot that came with their position living in the Tipton, the last thing she felt like was dealing with was a lazy, insufferable attitude from Zack.

"If you're not going to get anything done, can you at least go out to the kitchen and warm up Leila's milk in the microwave for her?" Carey begged, let alone asked.

"Is there a third choice?" Zack responded obnoxiously.

Carey smile, "Yes," she answered, surprisingly sounding not at all displeased towards Zack's uncooperative approach, "you can check if she needs a change if you'd like."

All expression impulsively fell from Zack's face as he heard the taunting laughter of both Cody and Leila - who assumingly was just joining in - emit from behind him, "Milk it is."

Sooner than having to stick around and get into any more trouble, or worse, having to change Leila, Zack shot out of his and Cody's room and headed up the long hallway towards the kitchen.

As he made his way across the penthouse like apartment, Zack began thinking to himself how crazy his parents were for leaving an amazing place like theirs to live in a hotel. Although, as John had said, there were extenuating circumstances.

"The sippy cup?" Zack exclaimed, derailing his own train of thought as he entered the kitchen, "Don't you remember what happened last time we tried to give Leila her 'big girl cup'?" He asked Carey as she had followed him into the room.

"Yes, but hopefully it won't be the same thing when we try to put her in her 'big girl bed' once we move into the Tipton."

Zack reluctantly placed the cup in the microwave and turned it on, hoping that he wouldn't have to be the one to deal with Leila's reaction once she found she wouldn't be getting her bottle that day.

"Where'd you say John was, again?" he then asked, seeming to go off the subject.

"At a meeting with the people from the hotel," Carey replied while she packed away some cardboard boxes into a bag.

Zack raised an eyebrow, "Wasn't he at one of those yesterday?"

"Honey, a lot of agreements and preparation have to go into an endorsement like this."

Zack fell into silence as he watched the sippy cup revolve around continuously under the light of the microwave. In the smooth sailing that had welcomingly approached the family since Carey and John's wedding, they had hit a bit of a speed bump in the last few months. In other words, they came across those 'extenuating circumstances'.

John's newspaper had almost gone under – completely caput. The company lost thousands upon thousands of dollars in the collapse, and John was certain that they wouldn't be able to bounce back from it. The pressure put a hard strain on not just the business, but also the twins' family, particularly John who always seemed to be upset or agitated with a new predicament that popped up. Zack remembered how little he and Cody saw or spoke to their step dad during the downfall as he was constantly out of the apartment and trying to get everything back on track. It was certainly something that they weren't used to.

Their answer finally arrived when Mr. Wilfred Tipton offered an endorsement for the paper to bring it out of its scupper. In return, however, he requested a contract to be drawn up and for Carey to become a regular singer for the Boston link of his Tipton Hotel chain. The deal included a two bedroom suite for the family to live in and a small monthly allowance that went with Carey's pay. So, naturally, they couldn't say yes faster.

Zack awoke from his daydream at the sudden beeping that erupted from the microwave. Snatching up Leila's sippy cup in one hand and closing the small door to the appliance with the other, Zack spun around on his heels and proceeded back towards his room. He slowed for a moment to take in the atmosphere of the almost empty space around him. He and his family had undoubtedly set up a good home for themselves in the apartment. Deep down, Zack just hoped that yet another life changing step wouldn't be too much for them to handle.

With that thought still lingering in his mind, Zack's brain waves were abruptly interrupted again by the image of a sour faced Cody emerging from the hallway.

"What's up with you?" Zack asked.

Cody stuck his arms up in the way of his brother as Zack went to walk around him, "If Leila didn't need her diaper changed before, she definitely does now."

There was a short moment of quiet as Zack attempted to comprehend what Cody had said to him. His eyes hastily widening as realisation set in, both he and Cody whirled around and yelled in unison to Carey,

"Mum!"

-0o0o0-

"Are you sure we shouldn't have stayed at home to help Mum?"

Cody gazed up at Zack where he walked along a wall that rose about a metre off the ground as he spoke. Zack looked down at his brother and waited for a break in the flow of pedestrians until he casually jumped down.

"She said she wanted us out from under her feet," Zack replied, "Plus, she gave us money for lunch."

Cody shot Zack a look of appall, "And that's all that matters to you?" he sniped.

Zack simply shrugged his shoulders, showing no signs of offence, "It is when I'm hungry."

As much as this may have been exactly the kind of response that he was expecting from his brother, Cody still rolled his eyes at Zack's arrogance.

The two twelve year olds then continued on their way up the main street of Boston, talking away about the most random of topics that stretched from the look on Leila's face when she saw the sippy cup to what was on television last night and then somehow to what Zack was planning on eating for lunch. The strong rays given off by the sun tried their hardest to seep through the thick, mid-winter cloud, but as a fierce gust of wind caused the twins to zip their jackets up tighter, it became clear that the sunlight would not be making a successful appearance.

Cody looked up to the misty, gray sky, "We better make this quick," he said, turning to Zack, "It might snow soon."

Zack dug his clenched fists deeper into his pockets. All the tall buildings and skyscrapers of Boston didn't do as a good a job of keeping all the cold, icy weather out as some may have thought, and as Zack gazed up and around at his and Cody's surroundings, that was all he could think about.

"Yeah, but even if it does, I think there's plenty of places for us to take shelter."

One of these places that Zack was referring to, as they walked by, was the Tipton Hotel. Both boys took a moment to stop and check out what was different about their new home. Cody craned his neck up and studied the immense height, structure and façade of the five star, luxury hotel. Zack, on the other hand, wasn't exactly checking out the hotel. What he was checking out, however, was a five star, luscious looking girl that walked through the great double doors at the front of the building.

"Whoa," Zack spoke to himself in a whisper as he watched a final strand of blonde hair disappear into the hotel. A smile crept across his face, "Just the way I like them," he continued, directing his attention to Cody, "tall, blonde and curvy."

"Oh no," Cody said, dragging Zack back by the shoulder as he tried to make a break for the Tipton, "Zack, we don't live there yet."

"So? Who cares, we will in two days." Zack tugged away from the grip Cody had on him, "Besides, didn't you see those legs?"

Cody frowned, "Well I want no part in this. I'll meet you at Burger Barn."

Before another word could be spoken, Zack burst through the crowd of people and ran towards the Tipton. He slowed as he made his approach and smiled in reply to a nod he received from the doorman and then made an eventual entrance into the main lobby.

Zack's jaw dropped at the sight of what would soon be called his home. From the crystalline chandelier that hung above his head, to the intricate designed carpet that graced his feet, the Tipton Hotel was unquestionably nothing short of a masterpiece.

He unzipped his jacket as the temperate warmth of the room suddenly made an impact on his senses as he walked down one of the two short ramps that led to the wooden floor of the lobby. He looked around at all the different faces that made up the contents of the foyer, though much to his disappointment, none of the patrons were the girl he had been tailing - or admiring from afar, whichever term sounded less sleazy.

Zack sighed in a slight tone of dissatisfaction then reluctantly about faced and began to make his way back to the hotel doors. In a last hopeful attempt to see the stunning young woman, Zack allowed his eyes to dart around and scan the room one final time. All of a sudden, he felt his pupils amplify to an immense extent.

Freezing on the spot, Zack blinked a couple of times before his suspicions were realised. He hadn't found his girl, but as he made a swift and hasty dive behind a plant that sat next to the concierge's desk, Zack watched in silence at what it was that threw him through such a loop of shock.

"Room 892?" There was a pause and a slight snicker that followed the deep voice, "Ok. I'm coming up now, babe. Warm up the bed for me."

Zack felt his heart sink, and as the elevator doors came to a sluggish close, he stood up unwillingly from the ground and swallowed back a chunk of dejection as he watched his step father vanish within the small space.

-0o0o0-

An expressionless Zack walked impassively through the doors of Burger Barn, still reeling from the blow he had felt at the sight of John walking into the Tipton elevator after what he had said down the phone. All appetite understandably lost, Zack groaned to himself and reluctantly strolled over to where he spied Cody sitting at a table with two trays of food.

"I ordered your meal for you," Cody said with a smile as Zack joined him, "Double beef and bacon, right?"

Zack nodded and unhurriedly unwrapped his burger, "Thanks," he spoke gently.

Cody immediately shot Zack a look of skepticism. There was something about the way his brother was acting that didn't feel right to him. Firstly, there was the obvious look of grief that lay across his face and the tone in his voice to match. Secondly was the fact that he hadn't even spoken a single word about the pretty blonde girl that he had followed into the hotel. And third, and possibly strangest of all, a whole two minutes had already passed, and Zack hadn't taken a single bite of his burger.

"Ok, what's up?" Cody asked.

Zack's dazed stare shifted back up to Cody at the sound of his voice, "Nothing," he answered in the most unconvincing way.

"Are you sure? You were all happy and big-headed and normal before," Cody replied, "and now you're just… not."

Zack sighed in a manner of slight aggravation, "Yes, I'm fine, ok? I'm fine."

Cody took the minor bark as a hint to drop the subject. He reverted to silence and took a hefty bite out of his B.L.T. Keeping a concerned eye on his brother, Cody then fell deeper into his pit of disbelief as Zack imitated his actions, taking, however, no more than a nibble around the edge of his burger.

Cody's shoulders slumped and he collapsed his arms into a folded position on the table, "But if something was wrong," he began, "you'd tell me, wouldn't you?"

"Huh?" Zack replied as he seemed to snap out of some kind of profound muse.

"Would you tell me if something was wrong?"

Zack grunted under his breath and then finally took a bite out of his burger. A bite of anger, but a bite all the same.

"Yes, Cody, ok? I'd tell you."

"Swear?"

"I swear."

Cody paused for a couple of seconds as Zack spoke, looking him directly in the eye. A rush of content gradually swept over him at the input of his brother's promise. Besides, Cody thought to himself, it had been a very full on few days with the upcoming move into the Tipton just on the horizon, and that could've easily been overwhelming Zack and taking up space in his mind just as much as it was Carey and John. Although, what Cody didn't know was that the only things currently occupying room in Zack's head were the staggering images of what had happened with John, and what could very well happen in his family's future.

-0o0o0-

Zack lay awake in bed and gazed gloomily up at the ceiling. There wasn't particularly much to see in the darkness of two in the morning, but he certainly had a lot to think about.

However, his genuine attempts to conduct some rational thinking were not only being disturbed by the usual hums of Cody's heavy breathing from across the room, but were surprisingly being outdone by the extraordinary noise of Leila snoring.

_Don't worry boys, Leila won't keep you awake whatsoever._

"Yeah right." Zack spoke in reply to the sound of Carey's voice echoing in his head.

He rolled over and sprawled out on his side.

"_I'm coming up now, babe."_

Zack wrinkled his brow in deep thought. John could've been talking to anyone – a relative, a really close friend. He might've very easily been looking too far into the situation. But 'warm up the bed for me'? That was the part that sounded dodgy to Zack. That and the fact that John had been staying at work later and later each night for the past week or so, which definitely wasn't slowing his train of thought any more, either.

Nevertheless, he couldn't tell anybody, not Cody, Kurt and especially not Carey. Not until he was confident that he had the full story. Something about the circumstances weren't right logically or morally, and as much as Zack had no idea what was going on, he was utterly convinced that he was going to figure it out.

-0o0o0-

**Sunday -**

Burying his face into his pillow, Zack groaned. It had been a long time since he had woken up before nine a.m. on a weekend, and it was definitely taking a toll of annoyance on him. Finally giving in, he threw his blankets off himself and sat up on the edge of his bed. He sighed. Looking around the room, Zack spied Cody's neatly made bed facing opposite his, as well as Leila's empty, pink cot that sat against the side wall. They'd all probably been awake for a while now, Zack thought, so he supposed he should go out to the kitchen and join his family for breakfast. Although, in a positive sort of way, he just hoped that John had already left for work.

Upon entering the kitchen, Zack felt a genuine smile inch across his face at the sight of Carey. She was putting out plates on the table for her and the twins and had already set up Leila's highchair next to her seat. This, and everything else that she did for her kids, was, as Carey would admit, her number one job. But, much like she had been recently, she looked completely content in everything she did. And that alone was enough to make Zack feel a little better.

"Morning, Mum."

Carey looked up at the sound of Zack's voice and smiled, "Good morning, honey." She walked over to him and pulled into a warm hug, "You're up early."

Allowing himself to fall into the comforting embrace from his mum, Zack tried to put all his worries at the back of his mind long enough for him to generate a convincing conversation.

"Well, you know, I couldn't resist the smell of your chocolate chip pancakes," Zack replied as he broke away from Carey's grip, "It is the only thing you can cook."

Carey let out a soft bark of laughter as she walked back to the stove, "Just for that comment, you might only be getting eight instead of twelve this morning."

Zack grinned back at Carey before the two of them were interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door opening, followed by Cody appearing from the hallway with Leila in his arms.

"I hope you're happy, Mum," Cody said, "I am not changing her diaper for the rest of the week."

Leila and Zack both laughed, "Hey, bro," Zack then called to his brother.

Cody's face lit up as he saw Zack, though it was mostly from shock that he wasn't still knocked out in a deep slumber, "Hey, Zack."

"Jack!" Leila exclaimed as she stretched her arms out towards her eldest brother.

Both the boys beamed as Cody strode over to Zack and handed Leila to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck as a way of saying 'good morning' while Zack lightly kissed her forehead. Ever since day one, both of the boys had been very much involved with looking after Leila, and they had become even more so lately given that Carey and John had been so busy.

"What are you doing up this early?" Cody then said, snapping Zack away from his thoughts of John, "Shouldn't you still be drooling into your blankets in bed?"

Zack rolled his eyes, "If you must know, I couldn't sleep."

Almost as quickly as the sentence had left his mouth, Zack bit his tongue. The uneasy look that appeared on Cody's face told him that the fact that Zack hadn't had the best sleep wasn't exactly the first thing he wanted to hear after his brother's odd behaviour from the previous day.

Hastily swivelling around on the spot, Zack placed Leila in her highchair then sat down in his own seat, "So," he began, changing the subject, "what have you got planned for today?"

Cody remained to seem very unimpressed, but sat down in his place next to Zack all the same, "Uh, nothing really. I was thinking about going down to the library to catch up on a bit of study." He then turned his attention to Carey, "Mum, will you be able to drop me off?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie, I can't," Carey answered as she approached the table with the boys' first round of pancakes, "I've still got a lot of stuff to organise for the move tomorrow. Why don't you see if John can take you?"

Zack's eyes widened, "I thought John was at work?"

"Not yet, he has to go to the Tipton to tie up a few loose ends for tomorrow, so he's not starting until later on today."

"Well where is he now?" Zack asked in a striving attempt to sound utterly oblivious to everything going on around him.

Then, as if on cue, a staggering John emerged from his and Carey's bedroom, assumingly fresh from their ensuite. Zack watched his step dad with repel the second that his eyes cast onto the image of him, yet it soon turned to a glance of confusion as John's tottering way of walking became clearer.

"Morning, babe," Carey said as she walked over to her husband and kissed him on the cheek, "Are you feeling alright?" she then asked, noticing the odd way he was conducting himself.

John returned the kiss then rubbed his temples, "Yeah, love, I'm fine," he responded, "Just a little tired is all."

Carey smiled, content in the answer that John had given her, while he made the remainder of his short journey over to the breakfast table and ruffled both of the boys' hair.

"How's it going this morning, boys?"

"Pretty good," Cody replied brightly. Zack, on the other hand, simply shrugged his shoulders and shoved another gobful of pancake into his mouth.

Not at all thrown by the fact that Zack was more interested in his breakfast than making conversation, John then shot a wide smile at Leila as she sat happily in her highchair and Carey served up a bowl of cereal for her.

"Hey, baby," he spoke cheerfully before kissing his daughter on the top of her head.

Missing her mouth with the spoon, Leila smeared milk and cereal all over the bottom half of her face as she directed a huge, cheesy smile at her dad which made everyone laugh, even Zack.

Watching the interaction between John and Leila, Zack failed to understand how his step father could ever possibly do anything to put their blissful family life in jeopardy. Which, in turn, was precisely another legitimate argument against telling Cody and Carey about his suspicions.

"Well," John started, dragging Zack away from his thoughts, "I'm off. This will, hopefully, be my last meeting at the Tipton before tomorrow."

"Oh, honey?" Carey asked just as John opened the front door, "You couldn't drop Cody off at the library, could you?"

John paused and turned around, "You mean the one all the way on the other side of town?"

Carey frowned at the tone of displeasure she detected in her husband's voice, "Just a quick detour on the way to the hotel," she spoke convincingly as she cleared up the boys' empty plates.

"I'm ready to go, John," Cody said, who unlike Zack was fully dressed in casual day wear, "You don't have to wait for me."

John stroked his forehead as Zack watched the movement doubtfully, before he eventually sighed and held the door open wider for Cody.

"Ok, come on then."

Cody stood up with an upbeat grin that stretched across his face, "Thanks John."

"You just get John to call you when you want to picked up, ok honey?" Carey told her youngest son.

"I will, Mum. Love you," Cody called back to her as he raced towards their apartment block's glass elevator.

"Love you, too."

Then with that said, and a final kiss given to her husband, Carey gently closed the door and spun around to once again face Zack and Leila.

"Well, it looks like it's just us."

Zack returned the beaming smile that Carey was aiming at him and then looked on as she sauntered back into her bedroom. He sighed and, keeping the delighted image of Carey in his mind, gazed over at the equally elated sight of Leila still covered in food where she sat.

"Yeah," Zack spoke to himself, "that's exactly what I'm worried about."

-0o0o0-

The whizzing images of trees, buildings, lamp posts and people hastily walking the streets came to a slow halt as John's car pulled up at the traffic lights. He groaned and impatiently began to tap his fingers on the steering wheel.

"Stupid, freakin' lights."

Cody shifted his gaze from the passenger seat window to the ticked off persona of his step dad. John sighed and watched irritably as the cars on the other side of the intersection continued to make a left turn at the green light.

"Come on already!" he roared under his breath.

Cody's eyes widened at the abnormal out burst from John. He secretly sighed in relief when the lights finally turned green, though found himself clinging to the edge of his seat as John put his foot down hard on the accelerator and the car went tearing through the intersection. John averted his eyes from the road for a second and glanced at his watch. They were only a mere minute or two away from the library, but still, John seemed very anxious about getting to his meeting on time, Cody thought.

Just as they approached the final turn off a block away from their destination, Cody was snapped from his thoughts by a loud drum beat that echoed from the radio.

"Oh, man, I love this song!" he exclaimed, twisting the volume nob on the radio and pumping it to its full potential.

"Turn that fucking thing down!" Cody jumped in shock and fear at the explosion from his step dad and immediately did as John had commanded.

While he watched his step son shrink down into his seat before pulling up at the curb just outside the library, John sighed and rubbed his forehead again, "Look, I'm sorry, Cody," he began, "I've just got a splitting headache, ok?"

Cody nodded hesitantly as he gathered his books together and opened the car door.

"Thanks for dropping me off," he said, "Do you want me to just ring when I'm ready to be picked up?"

John heaved another sigh and scratched his head, "Um, I'm gonna be tied down a lot today. How about I just give you some money to catch a bus?"

Cody's expression dropped, "I'm not sure if Mum would like me catching a bus all the way back to the other side of town by myself."

"Ah, come on, you'll be fine," John replied as he dug into the depths of his pocket and pulled a five dollar note, "I'll see ya later, ok, buddy?"

Tentatively taking the money from John, Cody forced an uncertain smile, "Ok, thanks."

John returned the smile, reached over and pulled the passenger door shut, then within a matter of seconds, sped away from the curb at a furious speed and streaked up the busy Boston street, leaving Cody behind who was still very much uncertain about the uncharacteristic behaviour that he had just been witness to.

-0o0o0-

Zack swept his blonde hair out of his eyes and readjusted the beanie that sat on his head as he weaved in and out of the fast walking pedestrians of the busy Boston street. It had been about half an hour since Cody and John had left for the library. So in the fifteen minutes there, and the fifteen minutes back, plus the ten minutes or so it took Zack to walk to the Tipton, the elder twin suspected that by the time he reached his destination, John would have already arrived and settled into his so called meeting.

A slight twinge of guilt gnawed at Zack as he continued on his way down the road. Since he still blatantly refused to inform Carey of his doubts about John, as far as she knew, Zack was spending the afternoon at a friend's house.

As he entered the Tipton Hotel lobby for the second time, it appeared a lot more dull and lifeless than Zack recalled. Knowing the possible secrets that could be hiding between it's walls certainly didn't make it seem as majestic as it had the previous day.

Quickly ducking around the corner, Zack approached the stairwell of the hotel. The last thing he wanted was to be caught out by John if he were to risk taking one of the two elevators.

Room 892. The number stuck out like sore thumb in Zack's mind as he began his eventual climb to the eighth floor. By the time his journey was half over, Zack still wasn't entirely sure of why he was at the hotel or what his plans were. He just wanted some answers, and, hopefully, some reassurance that all this time he had simply let his imagination run away with him.

Zack stepped away from the staircase and walked towards the hallway as he arrived at the eighth floor. He gazed at the tall beige door that sat just to his right and took notice of the gold plate attached to it with the number 801 that stared back at him. What was he supposed to do now, he wondered. He couldn't exactly just walk down to the room at the other end of the hallway where he suspected his step dad was and make an entrance. What if John wasn't even there at all and he really was in a meeting? What if the room was occupied by some complete stranger who would dob Zack in to the hotel manager? That definitely wouldn't be a very good first impression. Or perhaps worst of all, what if Zack's theory was right and John caught him?

These scenarios, not to mention many others, were the precise reasons urging Zack to turn around right then and there and leave. However, there was all but one reason that was doing the exact opposite and pushing him to stay. It wasn't just anyone possibly being betrayed by his step dad - it was his mum, his sister and his twin brother. His family.

Regaining his confidence, Zack gawked around at all that surrounded him. As he peered up towards the roof, his eyes cast onto the image of an air vent that sat high up near the top of the wall. A devious smile crept across his face as an idea rapidly began to form in his mind. There was just one hitch - if that was where the vent ended, where did it start? The smiled fell from his face while Zack tried for the first time in a long time to do some logical thinking.

It wouldn't have made much sense if the vent only stretched through the thin wall outside room 801. It would have to go farther than that, covering more area of the hotel. It was awfully high up off the ground, so Zack guessed that the system must crawl through the roof of the eighth floor, meaning that it began either on the outside wall of the hotel, or -

"The floor of the next level up," Zack exclaimed in realisation. He looked down to the floor where he stood, and, sure enough, spied a line of air vents spaced out each by a few metres built into the wall close to the ground.

The scheming grin now re-emerged across his lips, Zack spun around and dashed back to the stair case and sprinted up to the ninth floor.

Standing before room 992, Zack looked over each shoulder and once he was sure no-one was around, crouched down and jiggled the door to the air vent. It was pretty loose, though not so much that Zack had the strength to pull it off. Allowing a minor curse word to escape his lips, Zack took out his key to the family's apartment and hoped that it would release the rusty looking screw that was holding the vent entry in place. After about thirty seconds of striving attempts, the door finally came free and Zack set it down on the ground softly. Feeling quite proud of himself for a totally powerless twelve year old, Zack slowly edged into the vent and began on his way down the wider than expected pathway.

After no longer than five minutes of careful crawling, and putting up with the musty smell that he couldn't escape, Zack spotted a beam of light in the darkness just in front of him. He dragged himself along the base of the vent for the remaining metres and subtly peered out into the room below him.

He felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach as his worst fears were then realised.

Lying on the bed in the centre of the room was John with a large, half empty bottle of vodka in his hand. At least that explained the irritable headaches and his stumbling way of walking, Zack thought, but that was no where near as bad as what the situation got. Comfortably straddling his step father's stomach was a very young, very good looking woman wearing nothing but a sexy bra and pair of panties. She leant down and began kissing the whole top half on John's body.

Zack looked on with sheer hate overpowering his vision, and while John took another vicious swig of his drink, the innocent twelve year old - who had now been exposed to a situation years beyond his expectations - fought back the consuming desire to break down the door to the air vent and attack his half tanked step dad.

His fists clenched by his sides and the uncontrollable threat of hot, angry tears welling up in his eyes, Zack was then suddenly interrupted by the sound of his mobile phone ringing in his pocket. He jumped in surprise, then quickly retrieved his phone and denied the call, not bothering to check who it was, hoping that the two adults below him hadn't reacted to the sound.

Before another close call like that was given the opportunity to arise, Zack pinched himself on the arm and took one final gaze at John just to make sure he wasn't dreaming, then quietly and warily backed out of the vent the way he had come.

A million different thoughts consumed Zack's mind as he neared the end of his journey. He felt angry, upset, humiliated. But most of all, he was confused. John had everything that any man could ever ask for - a good job, a nice place to live and a loving family. Why on Earth would he ever want to put any of that at risk?

"Find anything interesting?"

As Zack shuffled out of the vent and stood up on the carpeted ground of the ninth floor, he whirled around in alarm to hear a feminine voice erupt from behind him.

The flushed, hot feeling had returned to Zack's face, but it wasn't from anger. Standing before him was the beautiful, blonde girl that he had followed into the hotel the day previous. She was tall, she was lean and she was obviously gorgeous, but as Zack snapped back into reality, he realised that she was also the person who had just caught him sneaking through the hotel vent system.

"How'd you know I was up here?" he asked.

"I saw you sneaking around in the lobby and I didn't recognise you. That, and you're not very good at looking unsuspicious, so I followed you," she replied, clearly trying to sound stern, "You know, you're lucky I found you and not the manager. He doesn't take very kindly to kids, especially not ones who break into his hotel."

A wave of fear suddenly swept over Zack, "You're not gonna tell him, are you? I'm moving in here with my family tomorrow, my mum's the new cabaret singer, I don't want her to get fired before she even starts, and -"

"Don't worry," the girl cut in, "I won't tell him."

Zack sighed in relief, "Thank you. And I promise I'll never crawl through the vents again."

"Well, just make sure you don't," she said with a slight laugh, "So, you're moving in tomorrow, hey?"

Zack nodded as he promptly reattached the vent door to where he had taken it off, "Yeah, me and my family."

"Well then, let me be the first to welcome you." The girl then projected her hand forward for Zack to shake it, "I'm Maddie. I work downstairs at the candy counter."

"I'm Zack."

"Well, Zack, I'm about to go get something to eat on my break, are you ok for a lift home?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine thanks," Zack answered, "My apartment's just up the road."

"Ok, well, come and see me when you arrive tomorrow."

Zack simply grinned and nodded in reply. He was too lost in Maddie's deep, chocolate brown eyes to construct a single sound, let alone a whole sentence.

"See ya, Zack."

"See ya," Zack watched in complete enchantment as Maddie walked up the corridor and disappeared around the corner, and then, and only then, did he let one final phrase escape his lips, "Sweet thang."

Zack stood totally still for a moment or two as he allowed the adrenalin of his meeting with Maddie to pass over. Once it had, he then found himself resting in his position, trying to remember what he was doing there in the first place. Then it all hit him. Zack's expression dropped as all the images from his adventure in the air vent reappeared in his mind. And not only them, but as he then recalled what it had been that caused him to abandon his operation, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and flipped it opened. He groaned in frustration at what was gawking back at him from the small screen. _One missed call from: Codester._

Scrolling through his phone book list, Zack highlighted Cody's number and then pressed the call button. After the connection was finally made, Zack waited impatiently for his brother to answer, each ring making him more and more annoyed.

"Hello?"

"This had better be important," Zack snapped as soon as he heard Cody's voice echo down the phone.

"Oh, sorry. Do you want me to call back later?"

The shaky tone that smothered Cody's voice gave Zack the immediate impulse to kick himself, "No," he replied guiltily, "no, it's fine, what's up?"

"Well, John said that he wouldn't be able to come pick me up because he was busy with work, so he gave me some money for the bus, but there isn't any buses running until after lunch, so now I'm kinda stranded."

"Look, just calm down. Did you call John?" Zack asked innocently, as he would have if he hadn't been aware of the situation.

"Yeah, but he didn't answer."

Zack sensed further anger towards John build up in a lump in his throat after he heard the recount of how he had carelessly left Cody alone on the other side of town to fend for himself, "Well, what about Mum?"

"I didn't want to worry her," Cody said, "She's too busy getting everything ready for tomorrow, so I decided to call you first."

Zack rubbed his forehead and tried to think of a plan, "I dunno what to tell you, buddy, I -"

All of a sudden, Zack paused mid sentence as an idea rapidly began to develop in his mind. He smiled at the thought of his own genius, "I got an idea. Just wait there for me, ok? I'm on my way."

"What do you mean?" Cody asked in evident uncertainty, "How are you even gonna -"

"Leave it all to your big brother."

Then before another word could be spoken between the two, Zack slapped his phone shut and swiftly darted into the elevator, doubting somehow that John would be leaving his hotel room anytime soon.

-0o0o0-

Cody sat alone on the steps that led up to Boston's library with his books either held close to his chest or resting on the concrete next to him. It had been almost twenty minutes since his phone conversation with Zack, and he hadn't heard anything else since. He sighed and watched as all the different cars zoomed by in the street, when finally, a old looking, red Ford pulled up at the curb. The driver was a blonde girl whose shoulder length hair hung loosely by either side of her head. It was then that Cody noticed the back seat door open, and a smile appeared across his face as he saw Zack running towards him.

"Zack!" Cody called out as he stood up.

Zack smiled and picked up the books that were sitting on the step, "I told you to leave it all to me."

"Who drove you here?"

"Come meet her," Zack said, mesmerized, as he helped Cody with the books he had picked up.

The twins then climbed into the back seat as Zack closed the door behind them, "Maddie, this is my brother, Cody."

Maddie turned her head around from where she sat in the driver's seat and smiled at Cody, who instantly recognised her as the girl from the hotel who Zack was pursuing.

"Cody, this is Maddie. She works at the candy counter at the Tipton."

"It's great to meet you," Maddie spoke, following Zack's introduction.

"You, too," Cody replied cheerfully, "And thanks for coming to pick me up. I don't know what I would've done if you -"

Cody then found himself trailing off in the middle of his thank you to Maddie as he spotted the almost un-noticeable, unmoving man in the passenger seat, "- who's the old guy?"

"Oh, that's just my grandpa. I'm still on my learner's permit so I'm required to have a fully licensed driver in the car with me," Maddie explained, gesturing towards the sleeping image of her grandfather, "Don't worry, he'll most likely stay asleep for the whole trip."

While Maddie turned on the ignition and the car rumbled to an eventual start, Cody faced Zack who simply shrugged his shoulders as the car pulled away from the side of the road with a jerk and their trip home made its jolted beginning.

-0o0o0-

"Thanks again for the lift, Maddie."

The fair-haired teen smiled at her two new friends while she restarted her car and flicked the right blinker on, "No problem, Cody. I'll see you both tomorrow, I can't wait to meet your family."

"Later," the boys spoke in unison as they watched the old Ford, Maddie and her still sleeping grandpa disappear up the road.

Once she was out of sight, they turned around and began walking towards their apartment block, although, Zack may as well have been ambling along all by himself, because that was undeniably what it felt like to him.

"Thanks for sorting that out, Zack."

Zack's head snapped up from where it was facing the ground beneath him in a daydream at the sound of Cody's voice, "Huh?"

"I said thanks," Cody repeated, "I'm kinda happy that I didn't have to take a trip back with John, anyway."

"How come?" Zack questioned, perhaps a little too transparently.

"I dunno, he just seemed a little short tempered this morning. No, scrap that, _really_ short tempered," Cody responded, clearly not catching on to the grilling tone that caked Zack's voice, "He was yelling at the traffic and was really impatient at the lights. Then he yelled at me."

"Well, that's usually what parents do when they get ticked off, Cody - they yell."

"Yeah, but not like this. He was, like, screaming and he even swore at me."

By the time this part of the conversation had arose, Zack and Cody were at the entry to the apartment's elevator, however, the disclosure of Cody and John's confrontation almost caused Zack to miss the round 'up' button in surprise.

"What did he say?"

"All I did was turn the radio up," Cody started defensively as he and Zack stepped into the elevator, "and then he shouted 'turn that f-ing thing down'."

Zack's eyes widened, "And he actually said the 'f' word?"

"Yeah, he just snapped. I thought he was going to throw me through the windshield, or something."

Zack furrowed his brow and once again balled his fist in anger, unbeknownst to Cody. How was he supposed to face John again now, he asked himself. Not only had his step dad betrayed the trust of Zack's whole family, but now it was revealed that the six foot tall giant had intimidated and scared the living hell out of his little brother. _No-one gets away with that except me._

"I hope Mum's not gonna be too mad."

Zack broke free from his trance as he heard this comment, "What?" he asked as they both made their approach to the front door of their apartment, "What happened to the whole 'not wanting to worry Mum' thing?"

Cody hesitated in silence for a moment while he dug around in his pocket for the key, after realising that Carey and Leila weren't home.

"I guess you're right," he finally said as he and Zack walked inside, "I mean, John did apologise and everything. The last thing we want is to cause a massive argument between them."

Zack cracked open a can of fizzy drink from where he sat on the lounge and slowly nodded his head. He opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. Watching Cody vanish up the hallway and into their bedroom, Zack groaned and threw his head back against the lounge. As his mind continued to race at a million miles an hour, he took a sip from his can before placing it down on the coffee table.

Carey finding out that John blew his top and dropped an 'f-bomb' on Cody would presumably cause a huge dispute. Carey finding out that John was cheating on her with some scantily clad twenty year old and getting smashed day in and day out, on the hand, would almost certainly lead to a break up, not to mention another failed marriage for Carey. The only question left was whether or not Zack was prepared to live with that for the rest of his life solely because of his revelation.

-0o0o0-

Zack sat unmoved from his position on the lounge, his can of drink barely touched, in deep thought. The images from room 892 were utterly refusing to give his mind a break, and in turn, hadn't exactly given his enraged feelings the chance to cool down either. Cody was still in their bedroom and hadn't made a peep since their return to the apartment, and after about fifteen minutes of wondering where his mum and sister had got to, Zack looked up at the refreshing sound of a key twisting around in the lock and Carey talking to Leila from the other side of the door.

"Hi, Zack," Carey said in delighted surprise to see her eldest son sitting in the lounge room. She placed her shopping bags next to the door to the kitchen and then pulled Leila's pram in from the hallway and spun it around so the bubbly toddler was facing Zack.

"Jack!" Leila gleefully exclaimed at the sight of her brother. She raised her arms up gesturing for Carey to lift her out of the pram. Once she did, Leila then used the support of all the apartment's remaining objects to slowly stagger over to the lounge.

Zack smiled as Leila made her eventual arrival at the foot of the lounge and collapsed into his lap as a means of sustaining her balance.

"I ha ice keem," she announced.

"Really?" Zack asked over-enthusiastically, "You had ice cream?"

Leila eagerly nodded her head, "Choccit."

Zack heard Carey laugh at Leila's pronunciation from the next room. Her walking and talking were still a bit rusty, but she was definitely getting there.

The captivated look caused by his sister then dropped as Zack took a deep breath and raised his voice so Carey could hear him, "Mum? Can I talk to you?"

He waited for a moment until he heard the clicking of Carey's high heeled shoes against the tiled floor of the kitchen echo into the lounge room.

"I sit wit Jack."

Zack forced another grin as he lifted Leila from the ground and sat her on the lounge next to him. She dug her face into his side and let out a yawn, "Long day?" Zack asked rhetorically, "You and me both."

"Oh, man, you have no idea how good it feels to know that is the last time I'll have to drive twenty minutes to get to the grocery store," Carey declared as she entered the lounge room, "Did you know there's a market only a two minute walk from the Tipton?"

Zack shrugged his shoulders and faked a laugh, "I do now."

"You know what, honey?" Carey then spoke as she sat on Zack's other side and wrapped a loving arm around his shoulders, "This could be the best thing to ever happen to our family. I mean, John's back on track at work, and I've got the job of my dreams. You and Cody have fit in so well at your new school, and Leila's growing up in the most loving family ever. I hope it just stays like this forever. I am _so_ happy."

Zack shifted his vision from the sparkling glint in Carey's eyes and looked down as he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. His cringing thoughts ate away at him as he then felt a warm squeeze around his shoulders and Carey kissing the top of his head.

"Now, what did you want to talk about, sweetie?"

Zack hesitated. The only other time he had ever seen Carey this happy was on one occasion, before Leila and John, when her and the twins had stayed up and watched movies all night long. The three of them had curled up in blankets and pillows on their small living room floor with a massive tub of double choc chip ice cream and three spoons. They had laughed, and joked, and smiled and just enjoyed their time together. It was one of the only times after his parents break up that Zack could recall pure content between he and the only two people in the entire world he really loved. He never wanted that night to end. But now it seemed that Carey's whole world had transformed into that single night of bliss on the floor of their old, dodgy loft, and just as Zack hadn't wanted that night to come to a close, he couldn't possibly bring his mother's whole life to an end. Could he?

"Nothing. It's not important. What's for lunch?" he finally answered, quickly changing the subject.

"I was just going to do some grilled cheese," Carey replied while she gazed around at all the cardboard boxes that took up space in the apartment, then at the sleeping image of Leila on the lounge next to Zack, "But first I've gotta find the sandwich press in one of these boxes and put your sister down for a nap," she said, laughing.

Zack watched as Carey picked up the motionless heap of his sister and began walking up the hallway towards her room.

"Is Cody back from the library yet?" Carey then enquired.

"Yeah," Zack called back in response, "He's in our room. I'll go get him."

While he did so, Zack sighed in relief. Maybe it wasn't his place to tell Carey about John's affair. At least this way he was keeping his family together. The only thing he wondered was for how long.

"Codester?"

Zack peered around the door to his and Cody's room to see his brother sitting on his bed playing with a few of his remaining belongings.

"Looks pretty empty, doesn't it?" Cody said, referring to their room and looking up at Zack.

"Yeah," Zack responded, trying to hide the fact that his words were continuously trailing off. He paused for an instant before he apprehensively joined Cody on his bed, "Codes… are you happy?"

Cody frowned, "What?"

"Just with everything going on," Zack began uneasily, "I mean, with Mum and John, and Leila getting older now, and us moving tomorrow and -"

"Does this have anything to do with how you were acting at lunch yesterday?"

"No," Zack answered swiftly, "I just wanted to know how you're feeling."

There was silence for a brief moment as Cody seemed to be interpreting everything Zack had said to him. The elder twin waited anxiously and hoped for a straight answer from his brother, rather than further interrogation.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Cody licked his lips, "I think it's the first time in a long time we've had something really stable, ya know?"

Zack nodded and emitted a soft smile, "That's all I needed to hear." He then stood up from the bed, "Come on, Mum's making grilled cheese. She'll probably need help finding the sandwich press."

"Yeah," Cody said, following suit, "or making the meal."

-0o0o0-

**Monday -**

Bounding through the front doors of the Tipton Hotel, Zack couldn't wait to show Cody around the lobby. He was feeling a little better that day. John had stayed late at 'work' once again the night before, so there hadn't been any worries of him coming home and ruining Zack's night. It had been a little confronting coming face to face with him that morning, but Zack had easily been able to swallow his pride and act as normal. Cody and Carey were happy - that was all that mattered.

"Wow, this is amazing," Cody gushed as he looked around the lobby and felt all the indescribable senses Zack had felt upon his first visit to the hotel.

"I know, right?" Zack said.

The hotel wasn't as crowded or noisy as it had been for either of Zack's last two appearances, so it wasn't really any wonder when he effortlessly heard a ding from the elevator ricochet through the whole room. His eyes widened in delight when he saw who stepped out of the small space.

"Maddie!"

The blonde teen reacted to the sound of her name and smiled when she spotted Zack and Cody standing beside the concierge's desk, "Hey guys."

Maddie walked down the tiny flight of stairs and joined the boys where they stood. She was wearing her neat, navy blue school uniform which consisted of a plaid skirt, a white blouse and a woollen jumper.

"When did you guys get here?" she asked.

"Just now," Cody replied, "We're not going to school today because Mum needs our help unpacking while our step dad's at work."

"Lucky, that's where I'm headed now. I just had to pick up a couple of my books that I left up in London's suite."

Both the boys' jaws dropped, "London? As in London Tipton?" Zack asked.

Maddie simply nodded, "Yeah. I tutor her. My boss pays me triple my salary for it but I'm starting to think it's not worth it."

"Who's your friend, boys?"

All three kids turned their attention to the front door as they heard the booming impact of a female voice.

"Hi, Mum," the twins both called to her as she made her way towards them, closely followed by John who was pushing Leila's pram, "This is Maddie," Cody said, taking over, before facing his and Zack's friend, "This is our mum, Carey, our step dad, John and our little sister, Leila."

Maddie beamed as her eyes cast upon the image of Leila, "Aw, isn't she adorable?"

Carey grinned with motherly pride as she watched Maddie bend down to the pram and fuss about her daughter, "It's nice to meet you, Maddie."

"Same to you," Maddie replied while she continued to divot her attention to the entrancing toddler. An infectious smile grew across Leila's lips as Maddie maintained her entertainment.

"Wow, Maddie, you're great with kids," Carey complimented.

"Thanks." Maddie stood up from where she was kneeling next to the pram, "I've been pretty much raising my brothers and sisters since I was nine, so I guess you could say I've had a lot of practice."

An idea rapidly began to form in Carey's head, "Well, hey, there's gonna be some nights when John and I are both working, so how would you like to babysit the kids every once in a while?"

"That'd be great," Maddie spoke gratefully, "I was just telling the boys I tutor London Tipton, and that's every night from five till six, but any time after that should be fine. I'm sure they shouldn't be too much trouble, as long as they don't go running all around the hotel, right Zack?"

Everyone watched as Zack's cheeks turned a slight pink colour of embarrassment, when suddenly, something clicked in John's head, "Zack, have you already been to this hotel before?"

"Yeah," Maddie cut in, answering for Zack, "he's been checking the place out all weekend."

"Find anything interesting?" John asked, shooting Zack a nervous looking glare.

Zack hesitated his answer. He could tell that somewhere deep inside John's twisted being that he suspected Zack knew something about his affair, and as the pause in conversation began to stretch on for perhaps a bit too long, Zack tentatively bit his lip, "Nope, nothing at all. I'm hoping Cody and I can make things a little more exciting around here."

Seeming satisfied enough, John's expression changed. Although it wasn't a look of pleasure or wonderment like those that graced the faces of everyone else around him, but instead appeared to be nothing but simple approval, and possibly a slight undertone of lingering concern.

"Welcome to the Tipton!"

Breaking the trivial silence that was just beginning to build, everyone turned around as they heard this declaration erupt from the other side of the room. Headed towards them was a short man in a beige coloured suit who also wore an over enthused smile across his face.

"Good morning, Madeline," the man noted before he turned to face Carey and John, "And you must be John and Carey Mackenzie! Allow me to introduce myself; I'm Marion Moesby, manager of the Tipton."

Mr. Moesby then projected his hand forward for both Carey and John to shake.

"It's wonderful to meet you Mr. Moesby," Carey began, "And I'd just like to say how excited I am to be working here. This is my daughter Leila and my sons Zack and Cody."

Directing his awareness away from Carey's polite introduction, Moesby turned around and came face to face with the Martin twins.

"Hey Mr. Moesby," they spoke in precise unison. As they did, Moesby impulsively felt a shiver run up his spine. The tone of their voices rattled his inner core and he let out a minor twitch that earned him an odd look from each person standing around him.

"Terribly sorry," Moesby said, sounding just as confused as everyone else appeared, "When you boys spoke I suffered the most peculiar shudder."

-0o0o0-

It had been a long day. The move was meant to be over and done with for a while now, though much to everyone's annoyance, the icy condition of Boston's streets made it totally impossible for the moving van to leave as early as the twins' family would've liked. But as Zack and Cody sat sprawled out in a relaxed position on the family's new lounge, it all seemed to be worth it.

Suite 2330 was a lot different to the apartment that they were used to living in. For one thing, it was smaller. The lounge room and the kitchen were connected, and as well as these, there was a bathroom and two bedrooms. The minor of the two rooms was Zack and Cody's and the other was shared between Carey, John and Leila. The toddler's 'big girl bed' sat comfortably at the end of her parents', and was where she was situated at that particular moment taking a long awaited nap.

Carey stood rested against the round dinner table to the right of the kitchen and impatiently looked at her watch. She was wearing a long, black, silk dress and had a pair of elegant heels to match. Her first afternoon show in the hotel lounge had gone off without a hitch and she was now due back at six thirty p.m. to perform her evening show. Although, there was one thing stopping her from leaving, and that was the fact that John hadn't yet returned from work to look after Zack, Cody and Leila for the night.

"Where on Earth is your father?"

"_Step_ father," Zack correctly harshly under his breath, softly enough that he felt no-one had heard him. Little did he know, however, as Carey stood upright and began pacing the room, Cody shot his brother a look of confusion at the sound of his spiteful comment.

Just as Carey was considering picking up the phone and calling her husband to find out what was keeping him, the front door suddenly flew open and a very unstable, very drunk looking, John entered the suite. Zack allowed a slight gasp to escape his lips as he was reminded of the image he had seen from the air vent, only in this version John had swapped the half full vodka bottle for an empty bottle of whisky.

Carey's jaw dropped, "John? Where have you been, what is going on?!"

John staggered into the room and slammed the door behind him, placing his bottle and his mobile phone down onto the kitchen bench, "Chill out, babe, I'm here now."

Carey spun around to face the shocked looks that lay on both of her boys' faces while John let out a very sickly sounding burp, "Boys, go to your room for minute while I talk to John, please?"

More than willing to oblige, Cody rose from the couch in an instant, while Zack on the other hand, took more time. He shot a glare of absolute disgust at his step dad before both he and Cody exited to their room.

Calming the anger she felt towards her husband, Carey turned back around and faced John, "Sit down, you're drunk."

"I'm not, I'm not, I'm totally –"

"Sit down, John!"

"Alright, alright," he said cynically as he pulled out a chair from the dinner table, "What's the problem, wifey dearest?"

"Don't act like an idiot!" Carey snapped, "You told me you nipped this in the bud, you said you didn't have a problem!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The drinking, John! I know it was hard for you when the paper almost went under, and I guess you could say I understand to an extent why you would turn to the bottle considering all the stress you were under, but we've already spoken about this."

Carey took a deep breath in an attempt to console her own thoughts while John simply sat in dumbfounded silence.

"We agreed that you were getting too hooked on alcohol, but when we got back on our feet you insisted that you didn't have a problem and that you were going to be able to control your own actions and the amount of drink you were having. We have two young boys and a baby girl, John, and now you're telling me that you've been out drinking night after night?"

"It hasn't been night after night!" John spat in defense, "…Just most nights."

Carey let out a revolted bark of laughter at John and collapsed her head in her hands. This conversation remained all too familiar to her, as John had admittedly turned to alcoholism when he almost lost his business. Now it seemed that he was going through some sick form of relapse.

"Just leave," Carey spoke coldly.

"Wha?" he slurred in reply, "First you want me up here to look after the little shits and now you're telling me to –"

"Just leave!"

"Ooh, as you wish, your majesty!"

Tears on the brink of her vision, Carey then watched as John leapt up from his seat, stumbled, and then uneasily lurched out the front door, smashing it into place behind him.

-0o0o0-

Zack found himself walking back and forth across his and Cody's new bedroom as the loud shouting from the lounge room continued to echo amongst the walls.

There wasn't much of a difference between this room and the one they had left behind at their apartment. It was pretty much the same size and in turn earned a similar furniture arrangement.

Cody watched on at the angry attitude that showed in every step Zack took and finally opted to say something, "Do you think Mum will forgive him?"

"I know I won't," Zack snapped in reply.

While some comment about two boys and baby girl was heard from the lounge room, Cody dove into a deeper pit of confusion at Zack's sudden cold outlook on John, "What makes you sound so sure?"

"Because, Cody," Zack started, his voice on the verge of an abusive tone, "he stays out all night and doesn't come home till late because he only cares about himself, he left you abandoned at the library, screamed at you for no reason whatsoever, and now he's come home to our mum completely smashed off his face! It gets even worse than that, and I can't take it anymore!"

Cody shook his head in bewilderment at every word of Zack's rant, then jumped off his bed and grabbed his brother's shoulders, "What are you talking about?"

Feeling the fury build to an immense degree in the pit of his stomach, Zack struggled away from Cody's grip and then prepared for the explosion he felt forming inside himself, "John's cheating on Mum!"

The exact moment that the statement left his mouth, Zack froze on the spot and studied the hurt, distressed expression that materialized on his brother's face. Cody frowned in shock and began scrutinizing Zack's appearance in an attempt to detect a lie, though as the silent, awkward pause continued to stretch on, he started to consider the option that there wasn't one.

"Boys?"

Zack and Cody both jumped in surprise at the sound of Carey appearing from behind their bedroom door.

"It's almost six o'clock. John's gone out for while, but I've really got to get going. I'm just going to head upstairs to the penthouse and see if I catch Maddie after her tutoring and ask if she can babysit."

The boys simply nodded before following Carey out to the lounge room.

"Leila's still sleeping so she'll be fine till Maddie gets here." Carey stopped, picked up her purse and then turned around to face the twins, "Will you guys be ok?"

Zack nodded again, speechless. He could've sworn that Carey was going to sit both he and Cody down and try to explain what may or may not have just happened between her and John, but much to his surprise, she didn't. Even as she stood before the boys behind her strong expression and bold exterior, Zack could tell that she was broken inside, but was utterly refusing to show it.

"Yeah, Mum, we'll be fine," Cody said, dragging Zack away from his thoughts.

"Ok," she replied. She then extended her arms out to the boys who immediately accepted the offer and lunged themselves into Carey's embrace.

"I love you," she spoke, kissing each of her sons and trying her absolute hardest to hide the cracks she felt splintering in her throat.

"Love you, too," came the boys' unison reply.

The three remained solidified in their group hug for a few moments before Carey unwillingly forced herself away and turned towards the front door, "Be good, and I'll be home soon."

A further hush swept over the suite as Cody waited until he suspected Carey was out of hearing range and then whirled around on the spot and shot Zack a demanding gaze, "What do you mean he's cheating on her?"

"I've seen him, Cody," Zack responded, sounding frustrated, "and heard him."

"What exactly have you heard?"

"Phone conversations."

"What conversations?!"

Zack groaned in further irritation, but quickly tried to calm himself. He had had a lot of time to deal with his emotions surrounding the situation, but Cody was only learning everything in that moment.

"The other day, I heard him talking on…" Zack's sentence trailed off as his eyes broadened at the sight of what he saw staring at him from across the room, "his cell."

In an unsuccessful attempt to protest, Cody simply watched in doubt while Zack dashed over to the kitchen bench and snatched up John's mobile phone.

"What are you doing now?" he barked, the tone of stress still obvious in his voice.

"Well, if they were talking on the phone, then there's probably text messages, too."

"Zack!"

Cody sighed while Zack simply ignored him and continued to scroll through John's inbox. Pushing his hair back between his fingers, Cody closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath. He was still trying to get his head around everything. Not only had John unexplainably struck the fear of God into him and come home to he and his family blind drunk, but now Cody was being told that his step dad was also cheating on his mum by his brother, who, not to mention, had kept this secret from him.

"Ha!" Zack bellowed, "I told ya."

Holding the phone up to his brother, Zack looked on as Cody's gawping expression turned from bad to worse at what the text message read;

_Hey baby. I'm at the Tipton, gimme a call once you ditch the wife and kids. Can't wait big boy =P xxx_

Cody slowly shook his head as the image of disbelief became more apparent across his face, "I don't understand."

"Whoever she is, she must have sent it to him on Saturday before he got to the hotel, because by the time I got to the lobby he was already on the phone and -"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on a minute," Cody cut in. He paused and let his gaze sink onto his brother, while all Zack could do was try to figure out what it was that was keeping Cody from continuing. It was then that younger twin's face softened and Zack instantly detected a clear twinge of hurt.

"The day that you found out about all of this," Cody eventually resumed, "are you talking about the same day we had lunch at Burger Barn?"

Zack wrinkled his brow, "Yeah, why?"

"So, this is what was upsetting you?"

"What's ya point?"

Cody's entire appearance fell the second that these last words left Zack's mouth, "You said that there was nothing wrong. And then you swore that if there was you'd tell me!"

Zack's jaw dropped in confusion at the anger that burst from his brother, "What's brought all this on?"

"You looked me in the eye and lied to me!"

"I lie right to your face all the time! What's so different this time?"

"You broke a promise, Zack," Cody spat bitterly, "It's different to lying. You broke a swear, you don't break a swear to your twin brother! It's like… some sort of unspoken rule!"

By this stage, Cody was very much in Zack's personal space and very much showing the rarely seen infuriated personality that rested within him. Zack rolled his eyes at Cody's attempt of intimidation before he snapped John's phone shut and slammed it down onto the table.

"Oh yeah?!" He spoke, countering Cody's volume, "Well maybe someone should've spoken it."

The harshness of the words that came from Zack immediately caused Cody to back down and fall into his usual way of not knowing how to retort his brother's arguments. His vision directed to the floor and he let a soft, miserable sigh escape his lips. Before another word could be spoken, Cody's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. Both boys shot their heads up to see the pleasing image of Maddie enter their suite.

"Hey, guys," she said, smiling as always.

"Hey," they replied in quiet unison. Did Carey tell Maddie what happened, they both wondered.

"Your mum caught me just in time," Maddie went on, "She said her show finished at eight, and John probably won't be home until after then, so it looks like we're gonna have to find a way to amuse ourselves, hey?"

The boys both breathed a gentle sigh in relief. The last thing wanted was for Maddie to think that their family was entirely messed up, so they were thankful that Carey had kept the minor parental dilemma to herself.

"Sounds great," Zack then said, "Oh! I just remembered, I left my skateboard down in the lobby! Silly me, I'll just go get it."

Cody's eyes narrowed at the over emphasized tone in his brother's voice, "I'll come with you," he spoke quickly.

"Ok guys, be quick though."

"We will. Oh, and Leila's asleep in her room," Cody called in reply to Maddie while he closed the door behind he and Zack.

Spinning around and expecting to meet his brother's gaze, Cody frowned as he discovered that Zack was already at the door to the elevator, jabbing the 'down' button over and over again.

"Your skateboard's in our room, where are you going?" The words coldly left Cody's mouth while Zack prolonged his prodding of the button without looking up.

"I'm gonna sort this whole thing out right now."

Cody scoffed, "What are talking about?"

"John's in room 892 - he said so on the phone. So, I'm gonna end this whole thing."

"Are you insane?!" Cody shouted, "Zack, he's angry, delusional and drunk! What are you planning to do - knock on the door, walk in and politely ask him to stop cheating Mum?"

"No. I'm not gonna be polite."

"Well, I'm coming with you."

"No your not!" Zack said, shutting Cody down right away, "This is my problem, not yours."

"It's our mum's problem!" Cody yelled in disbelief as the elevator doors finally opened, "That's '_our_', as in mine, too."

Zack rolled his eyes, then in a split second, completely dropped his expression, "Oh, hi, Maddie."

"Maddie?" Cody repeated while he turned on his heels to be faced with nothing but a blank wall. Before he even had the time to comprehend what was going on, he grunted as he felt a sharp push from behind him and slumped to the ground. He flicked his head around just in time to see Zack jump into the elevator and hastily push the 'doors close' button.

"Zack!"

-0o0o0-

Zack jumped out of his daydream in surprise as the elevator landed at the eighth floor. He marched up the hallway to room 892 and remained outside the front door, his shoes glued to the floor, in deep thought. Taking a slow, heavy breath in, the life giving oxygen released most of the tightness that constricted his chest. Although there was an odd feeling of calm sweeping over the twelve year old's persona, he wasn't entirely sure what he was doing there or what his plans of action were. All he knew was that every time he closed his eyes and pictured all the hurt that John had caused his family, it awakened an emotion of rage inside of him. Narrowing his eyes in anger, and then in what may have been a moment of pure insanity, Zack swung open the unlocked door to room 892 and walked in.

John's head instantly shot up, though his expression changed when he saw who it was standing in the doorway, "Zack," he stated simply.

Forcing back a chunk of sudden nerves that had over taken him, Zack gazed around the room. It was small, very small, in fact. The only noticeable things that were taking up space were a bed and a television. There was also an entry to a bathroom that sat at the opposite end of the room. And then, of course, there was John. He certainly stood out. He was slouched over using the bed post to support his unstable stance. His hair and clothes were both a mess and his eyes were dilated beyond all belief. More than anything, though, the repulsive stench of alcohol oozed from him like it was the only substance he had ever been living off of.

"I thought you were…" John began before stopping, "Ah, there's no real point in explaining to you, is there? You already knew, I could tell by the way you were glaring at me."

Just as Zack was beginning to ask himself what the heck he was thinking confronting his step dad in a such a way, John took a vicious swig from an indefinable bottle of grog that he seemed to pull out from nowhere. It made Zack feel sick to his stomach.

"I thought you loved my mum," he spat in a rapid burst of confidence.

"Oh, I do, I do," John replied, slurring his words and staggering unsteadily closer towards where Zack stood, "But I just need a break every once in a while, ya know? A bit of excitement." There was another pause followed by some laughter, "A time to actually feel satisfied and pleasured. You'll understand when you're older."

Zack scoffed in disgust, "I'm telling Mum."

"No you're not!" John yelled hastily, "Besides, she wouldn't believe you anyways. Do you really expect her to believe that you saw – you did see me, right? That's how you found out in the first place, eh?"

"No, actually, I heard –"

"Zack!"

Zack and John both immediately reacted to the sound of Cody's voice and spun around to find him standing at the door. After about two seconds of wondering how he found him, Zack cursed under his breath upon realisation that it was he who had given Cody the number to the room.

"Look who else decided to join us!" John boomed, the shakiness of his voice becoming more and more apparent with each word he spoke, "I thought it was a joke just having Zack come down here, but _you_? What exactly do you plan to do to teach me a lesson – you're a push over! Sure, you might have the brains, but when it comes to brawn –"

"Don't talk about him like that!" Zack shouted in his brother's defense.

John screeched another laugh at the instant retaliation he received from Zack, "Ahh, but then there's the other extreme. Zacky boy. Ya know, you can run up and down the basketball court and shoot as many free throws as you want, but you'll always be the academic disappointment that your mother will resent for the rest of her life. And those words are straight from her mouth, by the way."

Zack tried his hardest to stand his ground and show what stature he had, but the offensive attack of words from John almost instantly caused a part of his defensive wall to come crashing down. It wasn't even the fact that John seemed to be enjoying insulting his step sons in his wrath of drunken fury that bothered Zack, but rather, it was the fact that he felt _every single _word of it was true.

"You're definitely your father's son."

Zack's face suddenly sprung to life at the sound of these last words to grace John's lips. He wrinkled his brow in anger and wiped away all apprehensive feelings that had only seconds ago contained him.

"_Don't_ say that about my dad," Zack demanded through gritted teeth. He might've been though a lot with his father, and Kurt may not have always made the right decisions in either of their lives, but he was still the man that both Zack and Cody looked up to and he was certainly still the father that Zack loved.

"At least my dad never did anything to hurt my mum on purpose, and he could hold down a job, and was always a good dad and loved me and Cody!"

While Zack let out every sole feeling of anger that he had enclosed inside of him since that first encounter in the Tipton lobby, he could feel the sensation of Cody tensing up in anxiousness behind him. And judging by the expression of rage that had appeared across John's face, he decided that it was unquestionably time to leave room 892.

"Now, I'm going to tell my mum! Come on Cody," Zack whirled around on the spot and focused his attention towards his brother before gesturing towards the front door. _That was almost too easy, _he thought with great pride in himself.

"No!"

Circling back around to the position he had just left at the booming sound of John's voice, Zack gasped inwardly as he saw the propelling image of his step dad's beer bottle hurtling straight towards him. Without thinking, he ducked and braced himself for impact. After a time period of what seemed like an eternity had gone by, and Zack hadn't felt the slightest sense of pain, he let a smile of success welcomingly edge across his face. However, his happiness was short lived when he heard a shatter erupt from behind him instantly followed by the yelping scream of an all too familiar voice.

There was glass everywhere. The defiantly discarded beer bottle had gone over Zack's head, missing him, and as an alternative crashed into the tall floor mirror that sat by the door. The blast of loose fragments had been immense, and while the vast majority of sharp edged pieces fell harmlessly to the floor of the room, others ricocheted all around the area by the front door, which, much to Zack's horror, was exactly where Cody had been standing.

"Cody!"

Zack dashed over to where Cody sat crumbled on the ground, wailing in pain and clutching the left side of his face. The elder twin dropped to his brother's side and timidly raised his head, instinctively feeling a rush of fear at the amount of blood that was revealed.

"Oh my God," Zack spoke quietly. He whipped his head around, ready and raring to direct some extremely foul language at John, but instead only groaned in revulsion as he found his step dad lying on the floor after his unbalancing manoeuvre of throwing his beer bottle, presumably in some kind of dizzy unconsciousness.

Swiftly being drawn back to the situation at hand by the sound of Cody's choking sobs, Zack aimed his attention back to his brother, "Come on, buddy, we've gotta get back upstairs and tell Maddie what happened."

With more aching cries as his only response, Zack gathered all of his strength and lifted his brother from the ground, as he then supported both his weight and Cody's and made a quick exit through the front door.

They had barely made it a quarter of the way up the hallway, when it became clear that Zack's constant talking and comforting of his brother wasn't enough to keep him moving, as Cody collapsed back to the floor in a reluctant, pain stricken heap. Zack took a moment to shut his eyes and push aside the initial emotion of panic that had overwhelmed him before he once again fell beside Cody.

"Come on, man," Zack spoke, not entirely sure of what else to say. He tried again to bring Cody to his feet, but was met with a handful of warm, fresh blood from his brother's skull. As warm as it was, the feeling of it against his skin, plus the sight and sound of the obvious throbbing agony and torture that Cody was suffering sent an icy shiver up Zack's spine.

Eventually giving in as a means of not knowing what else there possibly was to do, Zack's instinctive big brother nature finally took over as he opened his arms and allowed Cody to fall into his protective, consoling embrace.

"Let it all out, Cody," Zack soothed as he pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket and Cody continued to cry, "let it all out."

_Hold it all in, Zack, _he thought to himself, _hold it all in._

-0o0o0-

There was always one thing about the hospital that annoyed Zack, and that was the fact that it never seemed to change. The sights, the smells, the noises – they were all the same almost a year and a half ago when Leila was born, and seven months ago when he had his tonsils taken out, and they were still the same now as he waited anxiously in the corridor with Carey and Leila to find out if Cody was going to be ok. It was almost like while everything else moved along and developed, life in Boston General Hospital remained frozen in time. That was certainly how Zack felt as the minutes of nervous waiting unnoticeably turned to hours.

Zack glanced down at his watch and sighed. It was almost seven thirty and there had still been no word on what was going on with Cody. He restlessly played with the hem at the bottom of his shirt before suffering an abrupt shudder. His shirt may have been fresh and clean, but Zack could swear that the smell of Cody's blood was still living throughout every stitch.

"You ok, honey?"

Zack snapped his head up and gazed at Carey at the gentle sound of her voice, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Rubbing his forehead, Zack readjusted himself under the grip Carey had around her son's shoulders. With her other free hand, she delicately pushed Leila's pram back and forth while she slept.

Carey had turned into a complete mess once a message had been sent by Maddie through Mr. Moesby about what had happened to Cody. Understandably, she put an end to her show for the night and hurried to Cody's side. She and Zack, along with Leila – who Carey blatantly refused to leave at the hotel without her – then rushed Cody to the hospital, completely unsure of what the extent of his injuries were. Since then, Carey hadn't spoken much. She remained frozen in her seat, seemingly in deep thought. Zack could only imagine what his mum was deliberating in her mind, though he suspected if she felt just half as angry as what he did, then it was probably best that he didn't find out.

"What are you going to do about John?" Zack hesitantly asked.

Suppressing the resentment Carey instantly felt towards her husband, as well as the insignificant feeling of anger she felt towards Zack for mentioning John's name, she affectionately squeezed her son closer to her and kissed the top of his head.

"You, Cody and Leila are my only concerns now," she began bravely, "I'll worry about _him_ later."

Zack almost immediately sank down into his chair in regret of allowing the question to leave his mouth. Carey was a strong, bold woman – anyone within her presence could see that, but as much as this may have been true, Zack could tell that his mum was an emotional wreck because of what had happened to their family.

"I'm sorry," Zack spoke quietly.

Carey wrinkled her brow in abrupt confusion, "What are you sorry for, sweetie?"

"John said I was a disappointment," Zack started in reply, taking in a shaky breath, "He said I may have been good at sport and stuff but I was always going to be bad at school and disappoint you and that you would hate me for it for the rest of your life."

"No, Zack," Carey shot in direct response. She let go of Leila's pram and wrapped both arms around her son, "Sure, when you get a bad grade I'm disappointed, but I'm disappointed in _your grades _because I know you can do better. You're not a disappointment as a son." She then reluctantly let go of Zack and titled his head up so she was looking straight into his baby blue eyes, "I love you, Zack."

"I love you, too."

The two shared a warm smile as Zack sighed in relief. He needed both her and his siblings by his side now more than ever, and he was instantly reminded of this as he felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach and the sight of Cody's doctor walking up the corridor.

"Mrs. Mackenzie?" the doctor asked.

Carey grunted under her breath and then stood up, "Yes, that's me. Carey."

"Carey, I'm Doctor Luke Hannant," the doctor began, projecting his hand forward and firmly shaking Carey's.

"How's Cody? Is he going to be ok?"

Doctor Hannant sighed and looked at his clipboard, fixing the position of his glasses, "Yes, Cody will be fine. How'd you say this happened, again?"

Zack gulped and gazed nervously at the doctor's apprehensive expression. It certainly wasn't as if he or his family had ever been through anything like this before, and underneath all of his anxiety and concern, Zack just wondered where the doctor was going to lie the blame for what happened to Cody.

As the tension in the room grew to a larger extent, Zack glued his eyes to Carey's appearance and waited in slight impatience for her to answer.

"He slipped in the bathroom. His head went through the glass shower door."

Zack's jaw immediately dropped as the words left Carey's mouth. In desperate confusion, he studied her face and was thrown into further shock to find that the lie she told hadn't caused her to flinch in the slightest.

Doctor Hannant nodded his head as he removed his glasses and placed the clipboard under his arm, "Well, we had to remove some glass from the left side of Cody's face. He was very lucky - one of the shards was only a couple of inches away from piercing his retina which would've caused either temporary or permanent blindness in his left eye."

Carey covered her mouth with her hand while Zack gasped in alarm.

"But as I said, he will be completely fine," the doctor continued, "However, it is my professional guess that the gash will scar. We're just bandaging the wound now and applying Cody with some antibiotics, but you can come see him if you like, Carey."

Instantly agreeing, Carey spun around and placed a hand on each of Zack's shoulders, "I'll be right back, sweetie," she began, "Will you be ok waiting here with Leila?"

Zack nodded in silent approval and was then forced to watch Carey and Doctor Hannant walk up the hallway on their way to see Cody. His expression dropped the moment they rounded the corner and were out of sight, as Zack was reminded subconsciously of the mention of Cody's wound scarring over and faintly fell back, only caught by the pressure of Leila's pram drumming into his back.

-0o0o0-

There were two things that Zack Martin never did. That was lend money and cry. Lending money because… well, it was lending money, but crying, on the other hand, to Zack had always been considered as weak, and as he sat on his bed with tears spilling down his face, that was exactly how he felt.

The sudden sound of the doorknob to his room twisting caused Zack to jerk around and quickly wipe his tears away before re-facing the back wall of his room.

"Hey, Zack, Mum's ordering take out and wants to know what - you're crying?"

Reacting to Cody's voice, Zack glanced at the shocked expression the lay across his brother's face. He swallowed and hastily looked away, trying to hide his grimacing appearance at the sight of the white bandage that lined the left side of Cody's face.

"No I'm not," he protested unconvincingly.

"Yeah, you are. Don't lie to me. Again."

Zack choked out another sob as his shield of calmness immediately fell down at the firm tone in Cody's voice, "Cody, I'm so -"

"Don't say it," Cody cut in as he moved over to Zack's side of the room and sat next to him on the bed, "You were just doing what you thought was best."

"But I don't want you to think you can't trust me," Zack said in slight confusion at Cody's unruffled approach to their previous argument, "I broke a swear to you."

"And I'm saying it's ok. Plus, I know you were only trying to look out for me. Of course I trust you Zack. Now, tell me what's wrong?"

Zack's genuine smile soon dropped as he began to hesitate his answer, "It's nothing, really, don't worry about it."

"It can't be nothing. You haven't cried at all since Dad… since Dad left." There was a minor pause while Cody swiftly went through some theories in his head, until suddenly, his eyes widened, "That's it, isn't it? John's gone and you're upset that the family's broken up again."

Zack replied with a short silence as it appeared that he was doing some deliberating of his own. Cody watched his brother's face with great intent, when eventually, he noticed a reluctant change of exterior and a sigh escape Zack's lips.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's it."

Cody softened and instantly pulled Zack into a comforting hug, "Oh, Zack, it's going to be ok."

Happily tightening the grip he was towed into, Zack rested his head on Cody's shoulder. He outwardly heaved a breath in relief that Cody was safe and predominantly unharmed in his arms, however, with the images of all that had happened in room 892 still burned into his mind, Zack soon burst into more unwilling tears.

"I'm so sorry, Cody."

"For what?"

Abruptly containing himself upon realisation of his outbreak of emotion, Zack unenthusiastically pulled himself away from Cody and tentatively pushed his hair out of his face.

"For, uh… getting so emotional. I know you don't usually expect this kind of stuff from me."

Cody simply laughed, "Hey, I didn't expect to wind up in the hospital today and come home looking like some Halloween reject pirate either. I think I'll manage."

Zack returned the smile and took another stab at successfully drying his eyes.

"Thanks for being there for me today, Zack," Cody then said, "Things would've turned out so much worse if you hadn't been there."

Zack wrinkled his brow and gawked questioningly at Cody through his tear stained vision, "Do you really think so?"

Cody mimicked the positioning of Zack's facial features and was just about to say something when they were interrupted by the sound of the suite's front door hastily opening. The twins both shot a worried look at each other, expecting the worst. They jumped off Zack's bed and dashed towards the door of their room, but soon felt their adrenalin drain as they heard a deep voice that was the last one they ever anticipated.

"Where is he?" the voice asked. Zack and Cody widely grinned at each other and then swung open their door and ran out into the centre of the lounge room.

"Dad!" Cody yelled out.

"Cody!"

Kurt knelt down and affectionately collected Cody into his arms. He took a hold of the back of his son's head and rubbed his back as a rush of composure swept over him. The terror that had taken over him when Carey filled him in on what had happened to the twins had been incredible, and was still loitering throughout his body even as he held Cody closely in his grasp.

"Are you ok, buddy?"

"Yeah," Cody replied, "I'm fine."

Half-heartedly releasing his hold around Cody, Kurt turned his awareness towards Zack who was standing comfortably alongside Carey and Leila. He outstretched his arms without a seconds' thought, "Come here, Zack."

Sucking up the gloomy sensation that was still dwelling inside of him, Zack ran at Kurt and plunged into his father's embrace.

"What are you doing here?" he asked curiously after a few seconds of blissful squeezing.

Kurt let go of Zack and rested an arm around both his sons' shoulders, "I was about to go on at the Fleet Centre when Mum called me and told me what happened. I told the opening band to stay on for a few minutes longer while I came round to see if you were ok."

"You ditched your show to come see us?" Cody asked in surprise.

Kurt looked at his youngest son with a slight twinge of hurt in his eyes and the tone of his doubtful question, "I'd ditch my whole career if it meant I could spend every day with you guys - you know I would."

Cody's vision shot down towards the ground the second that he realised how insensitive his enquiry had sounded.

"We know, Dad," Zack interjected for Cody's sake.

Still smiling with pride from where she stood a metre or two away, Carey shifted the weight of her restless toddler to her other arm and then opened her mouth to speak, "Thanks for coming, Kurt. We really needed it."

Kurt imitated the smirk Carey was sending to him and stood up from his kneeling posture on the ground, "It's no problem at all." His beaming expression grew to a further extent as he then laid eyes on Leila, "Hey there, little girl. Someone's gotten a lot bigger since I last saw them."

Kurt tenderly stroked Leila's hair while Carey let out some soft laughter, "Yeah, I just wish she'd grow out of her restless moods as quickly as she's growing out of her clothes."

Kurt allowed himself to enjoy the gentle interaction with Leila for a few moments longer before a serious demeanour took over his character.

"Boys, can you please go to your room for a minute while I talk to Mum? I'll come around tomorrow afternoon when you get home from school and spend the whole evening with you, ok?"

The boys both nodded as they shared one final hug with Kurt who kissed each of them on top of their heads, "I love you guys."

"We love you, too," they countered in unison.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Then with that said, Zack and Cody let go of Kurt, and each other, and walked side by side back into the welcoming confines of their bedroom. Carey and Kurt looked on with equal amounts of pleasure in how well their boys were handling the unfortunate situation. Kurt only wished, as he focused his attention on Carey, that he was able to remain as calm as what the twins were.

"So, what did the police say?"

Carey nervously bit her lip, "Kurt… I didn't tell the police."

"You didn't? Well, what is the hospital going to?"

Clutching Leila closer to her chest in angst, Carey timidly sighed, "I didn't tell them what happened either. I said Cody slipped in the bathroom and went through the shower door."

Carey watched in anxiety as Kurt's eyes and mouth both widened in disbelief, "You did what?"

"I'm sorry."

Kurt groaned, rubbing his face in distress. No possible amount of words could even begin to describe how gut-wrenching it had been for him to hear that something had happened to one of his sons. His time with the boys may have been generally spaced out between a few months or so, but they were still the two people he loved more than anything or anyone else in the whole world. And while his entire being had been filled to the brink with feelings of fear for what may have happened to Cody and Zack, there was still plenty of room left for the equal amount of rage and hatred he felt towards John.

Carey nervously waited for what she expected to be a screaming reaction from Kurt, but instead was thrown back in shock when her ex-husband did nothing but let out a loud bark of laughter.

"You know, it's funny," he began, "At the reception he came up to me, patted me on the shoulder and shook my hand. Then - and I still remember his exact words - he said, 'You've got a great pair of boys, Kurt. I promise I'll look after them.'"

Carey lowered her eyes at the recount of Kurt's memory.

At the time, it had been agreed by the two of them that it would've been far too awkward for them and the twins if Kurt had attended the wedding between Carey and John, but he was more than happy to make an appearance at the reception.

"Kurt, I know what I'm doing."

"Please don't say it's because you still love him?"

Carey scoffed, "Kurt, he is going to be a lot worse off because of what he's done with what I've got planned for him, ok? Now, do you trust me?" she asked with a more rigid tone coating her voice.

Kurt forced some of the anger out of his eyes and nodded assuredly at Carey, "With our sons' lives."

"Then trust that I know what I'm doing."

Kurt swallowed and studied Carey's stance and character for a second or two longer. Any normal mother whose son was attacked by anyone, let alone their own husband, would want to call the police and have them arrested immediately. But then again, Kurt thought, Carey had always been far greater than any normal mother.

"Ok. I trust you."

Carey released the tension from her body and smiled tenderly at Kurt, "Thank you."

Kurt merely nodded in reply then looked at his watch as a means of changing the subject before regretting his decision, "I've really got to get back. The guys aren't gonna want to wait much longer."

"Oh, yeah, of course," Carey said, almost forgetting how Kurt had managed to arrive at the suite in the first place, "How'd you get here?"

"I caught a cab. I didn't tell him to wait though."

"Oh, that's fine, I'll just call you another one. The number's in my –" Carey paused as she suddenly realised she was unable to complete her sentence, "cell phone… I left my cell phone down in the ballroom when I was doing my show."

She groaned and hoisted Leila up higher so she was sitting on her hip, "You couldn't stay here for two minutes and watch Leila while I go get it, could you?"

Kurt stuttered over his reply, "Uh, no, no it's fine, I'll just get the front desk to call me one. That Moesby guy was the one who told what suite number you were, anyway."

"Yeah, but even so, I still want to go down and get it."

Leila let out a soft, agitated sob as Carey lifted her from her hip and placed her in Kurt's clutches.

"It's ok, baby, Mummy will be back soon." Carey then reverted her attention back to Kurt, "I'll only be a couple of minutes."

"Carey, I don't know about this," Kurt whined as Carey opened the front door to the suite.

"Kurt, you went through Zack and Cody's infant years and lived to tell the tale. You'll be alright."

"But –"

Before Kurt had the time to let another complaint escape his mouth, the front door shut behind Carey with a gentle thud, cutting right through his protest. A slight jolt surged through Leila's body at the surprising sound of the door slamming as she sucked in a deep breath and let it out with some tear drenched sobs.

"Hey, it's ok, Leila," Kurt spoke soothingly, "I'm here."

Kurt adjusted Leila comfortably in his grip and peacefully rocked and bounced her back and forth. The tears quickly seemed to subside as Kurt continued to shush Leila and relax her fidgety mood. All that the toddler wanted was to be able to indulge in a nice, long, uninterrupted sleep, and Kurt could tell as he channeled his years of experience of raising two of the most mix-matched personalities he had ever known. He gazed down at Leila's face as she allowed her giant, blue orbs to latch onto his. A smile of wonderment slowly inched across his face as Kurt was abruptly subjected to a spectacle of emotion that had only ever been opened up to him when he was with Zack or Cody. Something about the particular feeling felt so right.

"I'll always be here."

-0o0o0-

The darkness enveloped Carey as she sat frozen in her position on the lounge, the incessant ticking of the clock behind her echoing throughout the whole room. It was nearing on one in the morning – Zack, Cody and Leila had been asleep in bed for ages, but there was still something that Carey needed to do. She impatiently tapped the suitcase that sat on the ground next to her feet. After a long week of packing and unpacking, organising yet another bag of luggage was the last thing Carey had felt like doing. But she knew this was going to be worth it.

Jumping at the sudden sound of three soft knocks on the front door, Carey uncertainly rose from her seat and swallowed back a hard chunk of anticipation. She picked up the suitcase and gradually edged her way towards the front door. She looked through the peep hole and exhaled a confident breath.

"Carey? It's me."

The sound of John's voice rattled Carey's bones as she placed a shaky hand on the doorknob. She stopped for an instant and hastily began to reconsider her actions.

"I've sobered up, Carey, I swear. Please, just let me in, I know you're there."

Carey gritted her teeth and fretfully bit her lip before she closed her eyes and drew back on the composed emotion that had only moments ago coursed through her body. In one swift movement, she flew the door open and Carey stood face to face with a very drowsy, clearly hung-over John.

"I just want a chance to explain," John spat instantly.

Carey scoffed in disgust, wide eyed, "Explain what, John? Explain how you put Cody two inches away from permanent blindness?!"

"It was an accident! I didn't mean to hurt him."

Carey shook her head and pressed her lips down hard together in an attempt to force back the tears that were threatening to escape her eyes.

"I suppose you know about what I did with… ya know, the affair and everything," John opted. Carey nodded in response.

"Zack told me. Normally I'd say he was letting his imagination run away with him, but he seemed to know way too much. Plus, after what you did to him and Cody I was pretty much ready to believe anything."

"I'm sorry, Carey," John pleaded, "It was a mistake. Everything was a mistake."

"No. You're the mistake, John." Making the most of the courage Carey felt flowing through her, she bent down and picked up the suitcase before projecting it forward to John, "I want you to leave."

"What?" he replied in disbelief, "You don't mean that. You and me, we're Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie."

"No!" Carey snapped in response, "I'm Miss. Martin. At least Kurt's name isn't one I'm ashamed to be attached to."

"I'm Leila's _father_," John urged through clenched teeth. He slapped his hand onto the face of the front door and pushed it further open. Carey countered his demonstration by grabbing the brass doorknob in preparation to close it on him.

"And if I have to make a choice between giving Leila her biological father or keeping her and my first two babies safe, then the decision is easy."

John's hand began to slide down the door as desperation and realisation began to set in. He shook his head as hot tears began to sting at his dilated eyes, "You can't do this."

Straightening her back and showing the status she held in the conversation, Carey pushed back her shoulders and threw John's bag next to his feet. She took a step or two forward and forced herself into his personal space. His breath wreaked of the alcohol that had only hours ago been against his lips, and as Carey tried her best to repel the revolting smell, she lowered her voice and allowed it to ominously clatter in John's brain.

"And if you _ever_ come near me or any of my kids again, I'll ring the police and tell them everything that you did to Cody and Zack."

Carey smiled in self-satisfaction at the sound of John's short, quick breaths reverberating into the cold air of the early morning.

"Go."

Swallowing at the final command, John unwillingly picked up the suitcase from the ground and turned around. The elevator dinged upon its arrival while Carey hugged her dressing gown tighter around her body as she watched the doors open.

Taking a final chance, John glanced back at his wife. She remained firm faced and glared at him and the pathetic aura that surrounded him. Blinking away what emotion had spread across his face, John turned around and stepped into the elevator. Carey then eased out a breath of relief as both her feelings of adrenalin and John disappeared into the silent Boston night.

* * *

**WHOO! Part One finished, finally :) Did yaz like it?! Was it what you expected? I know there's alot of info in there, so any questions or concerns you have just let me know. Also, was that length ok? I know I said it was going to be a long chapter, but if it annoyed yaz because of how long it actually turned out to be just let me know. The final two parts will probably be about the same length too.**

**By the way, I know the suite only has one bedroom, but I just added a second one so it fit in with the story.**

**So, I hope yaz enjoyed it, and please don't forget to REVIEW :) You're all pretty much awesome.**

**Reneyyyyyyyyy x.**


	3. Part Two

'Nobody asked for life to deal us  
with these bullshit hands we're dealt.  
We gotta' take these cards ourselves  
and flip 'em, don't expect no help.'  
**_Beautiful - Eminem._**

* * *

**Part Two – Four Years On.**

**September, 2009.  
****Wednesday -**

Zack jolted awake and caught back his breath as his eyes darted around the room. He flinched at the strong beams of sunlight the streamed in through the window and reluctantly sat up, groaning. Another bad dream.

Shaking off the usual feelings of post-nightmare anxiety, Zack pushed his blonde hair out of his face and looked over to the opposite side of the room where Cody's bed sat. He rolled his eyes at the image of the unresponsive heap that was his brother before double checking the time that glowed from the digital clock next to his bed. Zack's eyes drooped in disappointment when he saw that it was seven a.m. and time to get up for school, which also, unfortunately, added to his bad mood.

While Cody relaxed in what was undoubtedly a very peaceful slumber, his serene dream land was suddenly shaken to pieces as a pillow came crash landing into the side of his head from the other side of the room.

"Zack?" he asked in a croaky groan.

"Hey, loser, are you gonna wake up and make Leila's breakfast or just waste away the entire morning in bed?"

Cody rubbed his eyes and eventually sat up in bed, facing Zack, "Well, someone got up on the wrong side of… oh, wait," he began cynically, "you haven't even gotten up yet. Great, you're just being a jerk for no reason."

Tossing his blankets off himself in an obviously hurt and agitated manner, Cody swung his legs around and lifted himself out of bed. As he made a trudging exit towards their bedroom door, Zack looked on from where he sat and instantly forced back a lump of guilt at the sight of the three centimetre scar than ran down the left side of Cody's face.

Making a mental note to kick himself later, Zack sighed, "Cody, wait."

Cody froze where he stood with his hand gripped firmly on the door knob, refusing to turn around.

"Look, buddy," Zack started remorsefully, "I didn't sleep very well again last night. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

Zack waited with a deep breath held in, hoping for a response from his brother. He wouldn't have blamed Cody, however, if he rejected the apology and left the room. The sniping comment that had left Zack's mouth was totally unexpected and uncalled for. Nevertheless, Cody flicked his head around and shot Zack a genuine smile. Instantly knowing that he had been forgiven, Zack exhaled his breath and returned the soft grin to his twin.

"You wanna come give me a hand with breakfast?"

"You sure you wanna risk having me near the stove while you're at work?" Zack replied in a mixture of relief and surprise.

"No," Cody stated simply, "but you can set out plates and orange juice, right?"

Zack laughed and jumped out of bed, joining Cody at the door before the two of them crept out into the suite's kitchen.

-zcZCzc-

After winning a long fought battle with the rumbling, old stove top, Cody proudly placed a large stack of French toast with sugar and strawberries on a plate in the centre of the table.

"You outdid yourself," Zack remarked as he walked out of the bathroom, pulling his shirt on and dumping his wet towel in the basket next to the door, "Ya didn't leave much time for a shower, though."

Cody beamed a grin of gratitude at Zack's compliment, "Nah, it's ok, I showered last night, and besides, French toast is Leila's favourite. It was no trouble."

Cody placed one final fanned strawberry on top of the pile of toast and then ran some cold water over the hot fry pan, leaving it in the sink to soak.

"I'll just go get dressed and then we'll probably have to wake her up for school, ok?"

Being answered with nothing but silence, Cody cut his journey back to his bedroom short and looked over his shoulder to find that Zack had taken a seat on the lounge and was staring blankly at the wall, fatigue clearly spread across his face.

"Zack?"

"Huh?" Zack grunted, jumping in slight surprise at the sound of his name. Cody frowned in concern and took a few steps closer towards his brother.

"Are you ok, man?"

"Yeah," Zack answered instantly, "Yeah, I'm fine, just tired, ya know?"

Not feeling entirely sure of whether to believe Zack's reply was a legitimate explanation or not, Cody simply nodded his head and turned back towards his and Zack's room.

"Two minutes," he said, and then disappeared behind the door. The brass latch clicked into place but was quickly forced open again as Zack spun around to find Cody's head sticking back out into the lounge room, "Don't eat anything."

Zack barked out a laugh, "Kay, _Mum_."

Choosing to ignore the sarcasm, Cody faded back behind the wooden door of his room, while Zack, on the other hand, allowed the reassuring expression to fall from his face as he crashed his head into the back of the lounge. He let out a deep sigh, which turned into an eventual yawn, as his mind began to refill itself with images that had only minutes ago been haunting his imagination.

It wasn't as if Zack hated every time Leila's birthday came around – it was actually quite the opposite. He loved his little sister and loved seeing her happy, but it was just that every year when she got that little bit older, Zack was reminded all over again of his and Cody's pathetic excuse for a step father, more so than what he was every other day, anyway.

After what happened on that evening which was now four years ago, John, surprisingly, took Carey's threat in all seriousness, sold up the Boston newspaper and then left town. Luckily for Carey and the security of her family, she still remained working as a cabaret singer in the Tipton even though the endorsement was no longer in place. Mr. Tipton agreed to give Carey a month's trial to see if she was worth keeping on as a performer, which she was undoubtedly proven to be as not only the number of people coming out for her shows, but also the money being earned through the entertainment sector of the hotel, doubled in the first two weeks. However, even as the fresh start may have led to many positive outcomes for the Martin family, there was still one factor that was constantly overshadowing Zack's life while he was awake and incorporating itself into his dreams while he slept.

Zack cringed whenever he pictured the permanent, physical burden that John had left Cody. Cody was the last person who deserved something as unfair as a glassing to the face. He was sweet, caring, supportive, smart – the sort of person who would wake up earlier on a school morning and make a giant stack of French toast for their little sister's fifth birthday. Each time the scenario was recreated in Zack's mind, he could feel another small piece of himself being brutally cut to pieces along with the soft flesh of Cody's face.

"Zack!"

Being ripped away from the unsettling illustrations that filled his mind, Zack turned to face where the high pitched shriek had reverberated from and beamed in delight when he saw his little sister tearing towards him.

"Leila!" he called to her with outstretched arms. He tightened the grip he held around Leila as she leapt into his embrace where he sat on the lounge, "Happy birthday, kiddo," Zack remarked.

"Thanks, Zack," Leila replied as she stepped out of Zack's hold on her and looked up at him, smiling and bright-eyed.

"Where's Mum?" he then asked curiously.

"I woke her up and she told me happy birthday and to give her five more minutes and to come annoy you and Cody instead."

Zack laughed, "And she calls me lazy?"

Carey still shared the master bedroom with Leila, as she and John had planned to before everything that happened. It wasn't really a great inconvenience; the only real flaw was that in order for Leila's bed to fit in the room Carey was reduced to having a single bed, too. It was enough for now, however, but Carey knew that as Leila got older she would need to have her own personal space, though that would be something to worry about when the time came.

Leila's eyes suddenly widened as her sense of smell caught a whiff of the meal sitting on the table. She spun around on the spot, and sure enough, spotted the French toast - her absolute favourite - stacked out nicely waiting for her.

"Did Cody make this?" she asked Zack in excitement.

"He sure did," Zack answered as he stood up from the lounge, "We've just got to wait for him and Mum to come out, then we can get stuck in."

"Aw," Leila whined, "I wanna eat 'em now."

Zack snickered again and placed a hand on his sister's shoulder, "Don't worry, I know how you feel."

Then, as if on cue, the sound of the twins' bedroom door opening abruptly broke the silence in the room as Cody appeared from the other side wearing a fresh shirt, a pair of jeans and a huge smile.

"Leila!" he yelled to her in happiness as she ran across the room and jumped into his arms. Cody hoisted her up and sat her on his hip while she latched herself around his neck, "Happy birthday."

"Thank you," she sang sweetly. Her pleasant expression then dropped as she shot Cody a glare, "Can I eat now?"

Seemingly feeling unthreatened by the girl who barely stood at a metre tall, Cody placed Leila back on the ground, "When Mum decides to join us we'll all sit down and eat together. And then we gotta go to school."

Leila groaned, "Again?"

The twins both forced another laugh at the tone of disappointment in Leila's voice caused by the mention of school, although, it was something Cody was used to being raised alongside Zack.

School had been back in session for about a week and half now, and while Zack and Cody began the tenth grade at Cheevers High School, Leila, on the other hand, started kindergarten at Marsden Elementary School. Everything was going exceptionally well for her, as well - she was constantly telling her mum and bothers of all the new friends she had made and the nice teachers at her school. The only actual thing left to hope for was that she followed the path of a studious attitude, rather than a 'Zack' attitude towards her work.

"Where's the Birthday girl?"

The cheerful look soon reforming across her face, Leila dashed over to where Carey had finally dragged herself and a very neatly wrapped present out of the bedroom.

"Mummy!"

"Happy birthday, sweetie," Carey said brightly, kissing the top of Leila's head, "Here's your present."

Leila squealed in anticipation as she hastily began ripping through the thin sheet of paper keeping her from her present. Zack and Cody watched on in bliss, and were soon joined by Carey who stood in between them, a hand on each of their shoulders. As the purple coloured paper continued to fly in all directions, Leila eventually ran out of sheets to tear up and then came face to face with a long, rectangular box.

"JONAS!" Leila exclaimed in awe, "The whole first series?! Thanks Mummy, I love it!"

"No!" Zack and Cody both yelled in unison. Carey and Leila both exploded into laughter at the sight of the pain stricken expressions that emerged on the twins' faces. Cody collapsed his head onto Zack's shoulder in an over dramatic demonstration of the brothers' joint revulsion they felt towards Leila's favourite band and television show.

"Can't we discuss the T.V. choices later?" Zack asked in a pleading tone, "Wouldn't we rather chow down on the lovely meal Cody made us?"

Carey grunted at the obvious sarcasm in Zack's voice, "Yes, ok, of course. Besides," Carey began, checking her watch, "there's only thirty-five minutes until the bus gets here, anyway."

"Thank you," Cody said, lifting his head from Zack's shoulder as the boys and Leila then took their seats around the table. "I boiled the jug if you want to make a coffee, Mum. I would've made it for you but I thought it might've gone cold if you slept in, or something."

"That's fine, sweetie," Carey spoke in reply to Cody, giving him a kiss good morning, "Thank you."

"Hey, I poured out the O.J. Where's my 'thank you'?" Zack butted in with a wave of jealousy as Carey instantly reached over the table and stroked his hair.

"Thank you, baby," she spoke affectionately, giving him a quick peck on the crown of his head before walking into the kitchen area in search of the coffee.

Leila chewed down vigourously on the large amount of French toast that she somehow managed to fit her mouth, and then tried to force it all down her throat with a gulp of orange juice. She swallowed hard, grinned in satisfaction and then immediately dove back in for a similar serving.

"Hey, hey, slow down a bit, tiger," Zack urged from the other side of the table, "Cody's already cooked breakfast this morning, we don't need him performing the Heimlich maneuver on you if you choke as well."

"My birthday, my rules," Leila responded, smartly shoving another gob full in her mouth and pulling a face at Zack.

"I wouldn't be so smug if I were you, Leila," Cody said, joining conversation, "Because when mine and Zack's birthday comes along, we could come up with our set of rules to torture you."

"Wha-ev-r," she mumbled through her full mouth.

Carey stirred her coffee at the kitchen bench and watched on amusingly and the usual witty banter taking place between her three kids. Still to this day, she wondered how she managed on her own. If there was one thing not given out at the hospital but was so desperately needed by all mothers, it was a handbook on how to raise your kids. But even so, as Carey stared lovingly at Zack, Cody and Leila, she couldn't help denying that she felt she had done a pretty good job with them. Although for the past four years, and not unlike the entire raising of the twins, she hadn't been completely alone.

Kurt Martin was a lot of things. He was careless, lazy, arrogant, cynical and perhaps even a bit of a slob. But he wasn't selfish, and he certainly wasn't unloving.

"Hey, princess!"

Leila's eyes shot up to face the front door as soon as she heard Kurt swing it open and announce his presence with his booming voice.

"Daddy!" she joyfully yelled across the room before jumping out of her seat and lunging herself into Kurt's embrace. He picked her up, tenderly stroked her head and kissed her on the cheek, "Happy birthday, Leila."

"Thanks," she murmured into his chest. Reluctantly allowing him to leave her side and give his normal greetings to Zack, Cody and Carey, Leila soon grew impatient and tugged at the hem of Kurt's shirt, "What'd ya get me?" she asked in a failing attempt to sound undemanding.

Kurt laughed, "Your present is down waiting for you in the lobby. But first, you gotta get dressed for school."

Feeling excited at the prospect that her present was left in the lobby because perhaps it was too big to lug up to the twenty-third floor, Leila instantly turned on her heels and bolted towards her bedroom to get dressed.

Half-heartedly ripping his vision away from where his daughter had ran off, Kurt turned back to the twins and Carey.

"Kurt," Carey started graciously, "you know didn't have –"

"Uh, uh, uh, don't even start, Carey," Kurt interjected, "Leila's my little girl, and I'll spoil her on her birthday however I want, right guys?"

Zack and Cody both nodded as Kurt gestured towards them, "Right," Cody agreed.

"You just better be able to match it in two months when the Codester and I hit the big one-six," Zack added sharply.

Carey giggled while Kurt pulled Zack into a head lock in response to his sarcasm, as Cody then joined in on the two on one play fight the three of them soon found themselves having.

The amount of relief that over filled Carey's body was immense. True to his word four years ago, Kurt had returned to the suite the day following Cody's accident to see the boys, but much to Carey's surprise, he also seemed very interested on spending some time with Leila, too. There was no doubt that the two had a strong, growing bond, but never in Carey's wildest dreams did she ever expect Kurt to ask her permission to appoint himself as Leila's father. It wasn't fair that the boys got a dad and Leila didn't, he had argued, and surely Carey feared the event of having to tell Leila in future years of what a monster her real father had been. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. And Kurt promised to love Leila just as much as Zack and Cody.

Gratefully accepting his offer, Carey insisted that while Kurt led out his fatherly duties by Leila she wouldn't require any of his money to support her upbringing. He already helped enough financially with Zack and Cody, and even though he may have felt just as strongly for Leila, she still wasn't really his kid. As much as Kurt persisted that he had the money to help where Carey needed it, she remained relentless and urged him not to worry about it, and although this may not have suited Kurt, he unwillingly consented, and simply swore to spoil her at birthdays and Christmas instead.

More than anything, however, once the twins had been sat down and had everything explained to them, they began to see their father in the light that had always been there. Even if Carey didn't realise it sometimes, Zack and Cody always knew that Kurt was a great dad, and would always step in where he felt he was needed, even if it wasn't entirely necessary. It was just one of the reasons why they loved him so much.

"Ready!"

The prolonged wrestling came to an immediate halt the second that Leila's voice was heard in the lounge room. There was a short silence before the boys and their parents burst into laughter. While Leila had managed to successfully pull on a pair of blue denim jeans, her t-shirt on the other hand, was facing the wrong way, the tag flicking up and rubbing against her chin.

"Well, apart from the fact that your shirt's on backwards," Kurt began as he took Leila's arms out of the shirt and spun the head hole around her neck before threading her arms back through, "you look just about ready to go. Have you finished your breakfast?"

Leila paused then quickly scooped up the final gob full of French toast and shoved it in her mouth, "I have now."

Kurt was still trying to make himself stop chuckling, "Alright then, let's go."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute," Zack suddenly said just as Leila, Kurt and Carey had made their way to the front door, "we haven't done mine and Cody's present yet."

Carey wrinkled her brow in confusion, "Guys, you didn't say."

"Yeah, well, we were keeping this one way on the down low," Zack said proudly. He pointed towards Leila and then beckoned her over, "Come over here, Lei."

Eagerly skipping over to her brothers, Carey and Kurt watched in elusiveness as Cody knelt down to his sister's level and pulled her in closer towards him, "We know you're a big girl now," he started, "so Zack and I put our money together and got you a little something."

Leila followed Cody's hand intently as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a long, mauve coloured box. Carefully taking it from his grasp, Leila slowly opened the box, her jaw dropping at what was revealed before her.

"What is it?" Carey and Kurt shot at the same time.

"Remember when we went to the beach over the Summer, Mum?" Zack asked, "And Leila collected, like, fifty shells?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember," Carey replied before dropping her bright tone, "We were sitting in the surf for a bout twenty-five minutes while she decided which one she was going to bring home."

Kurt frowned, "Didn't she end up losing it anyway?"

"Anyway," Cody cut in, "we knew how much they all fascinated her, so we got her this."

The two adults fixed their surprised gazes on the sparkling, gold, shell shaped necklace that Cody delicately lifted from the box.

After a moment of being completely speechless, Carey summoned her voice to return, "Aw, guys, it's great."

"And it gets better," Zack said as he gave Cody a cue and patted him on the shoulder. The younger twin then opened the necklace with extreme caution and humbly showed his parents the tiny picture inside of it.

"This is from when you were born," Cody spoke as he turned his attention back to Leila. He pointed to each person in the picture, "See, that's me with my arm around Zack, and he's holding onto you when you were a baby."

Leila studied the picture with great intrigue before Cody gently snapped the locket shut and placed it around her neck, sealing the clasp tightly.

"Thanks, boys, I love it." Leila then extended her arms out as Zack and Cody both pulled her into a group hug.

"That's a beautiful present, boys," Carey spoke with a slight twinge of happy tears in her voice.

"Yeah," Kurt grunted jokingly under his breath, "way to outdo mine."

"Hey, yeah," Leila abruptly yelped in realisation, "I need my present from Daddy."

"Well, then grab your school bag, and we'll go down and get it." While Leila instantly did as Kurt asked her, he reverted his awareness back to his sons, "Come, on guys, you too, I'll give you a lift to school."

The twins both nodded in agreement, spoke a united 'thanks' and then headed back to their room.

Zack walked on his brother's left side, discreetly directing Cody a gaze, but then quickly shifted his vision to the floor the instant that it came into contact with the younger twin's scar. He sighed, which Cody hastily noticed as he grabbed onto the door knob and twisted it open. His bad mood back in a sudden burst, Zack rapidly barged through and leant over his bed in search for his bag. Nervously creeping up behind him, Cody swallowed, "Made it through another year, hey, Zack?"

Zack stopped. "Yeah," he mumbled.

Cody bit his lip. The tone in Zack's voice, as well as the fierce way he tore his school bag up over his shoulder, gave the younger twin the hint that maybe he should back down on the questioning on certain past occurrences. But as Zack coldly walked by and brushed against his brother's arm, the sudden need of having to know that he and Zack were still clawing through together on the same team caused Cody to immediately eliminate the emotion of fearing his brother's reaction.

"We're doing ok, aren't we?"

Bringing himself to a standstill once again, Zack pivoted back around and met eyes with Cody. Hesitation took over him, and for a brief moment, it seemed to Cody that he wasn't going to receive a response of any kind. That was, until, Zack shot his brother an unexpected, faint smile and gradually made his way back over to him.

"Yeah," he said, placing a comforting arm around Cody's shoulders, "yeah, we're doing ok."

-zcZCzc-

Leila burst through the doors of the elevator and hastily scanned the room for her father. While she and the boys had been in their rooms collecting their school bags, Kurt had slipped out of the suite and snuck down to the lobby to prepare her present, but as she gazed around in a vying attempt to spot either her dad or her gift, Leila soon found to her disappointment that neither were in sight.

"Aw, man," she whined as Zack and Cody followed her into the lobby, "where is he?"

The heels of her tiny, purple converses scrapped against the carpeted ground as she sped down the stairs and tore across the main floor of the lobby, briskly skimming the centre table where the Tipton's priceless, gold vase sat.

"Not so fast!"

Feeling the sudden sensation of being yanked backwards, Leila timidly gazed up and came face to face with a very irate looking Mr. Moesby.

"Leila," he started sternly, "how many times must I remind you of the rules about running in the lobby?"

"Sorry Mr. Moesby," Cody said as he and Zack joined their sister and the hotel manager where they stood in the centre of the room, "Leila's got her own set of rules today."

"It's my birthday," Leila chimed in matter-of-factly.

Moesby took his hand off Leila's shoulder and smiled complacently at her, "Well that's wonderful, much like your brothers, you're one year closer to being tried as an adult." Leila rolled her eyes, "And I don't care what day of the week it is, you do not run in my lobby, understand?"

Putting on the sweetest expression that she could possibly muster, Leila shot Moesby a pleasant smile, "Ok, Mr. Moesby. I understand."

Feeling quite proud of himself, Moesby then turned his attention to the twins, who both forced back a laugh as Leila's expression dropped and turned sour the second that the manager was no longer looking at her.

"I know how hard it is to take responsibility for yourselves, boys, but do you think maybe you can act reliably enough to look after your sister?" Moesby asked unconfidently, "There's nothing worse than a hyper active kindergartener."

"Surprise!"

All awareness that filled the lobby impulsively turned to the front door as Kurt's loud announcement resonated throughout the whole room. He threw his arms up the air and yelled 'ta-dah!' as Leila's eyes widened in excitement, while Moesby cowered in fear at what he saw.

Resting on a shiny, silver stand was a gleaming purple and black bike. It had star shaped stickers that trailed all the way up the frame, complete with sparkling, purple handle grip and a number plate with Leila's name inscribed on it attached to the back.

Leila squealed in enthusiasm and ran over to where Kurt was waiting for her. Moesby watched her do so, confused at her total and blatant disregard for what he only moments ago had said to her, clasped his hands to his forehead and groaned, while Zack and Cody shot each other a worrying glance.

"How do you feel about hyper active kindergarteners with new bikes?" Zack asked hopefully. He immediately backed down as Moesby glared at he and Cody and growled threateningly under his breath, "I'll take that as a 'not good'," he spoke just as smartly while he gave Cody a slight nudge towards where their sister and dad were.

"This is great, Daddy, thanks," Leila said gratefully, examining every inch of her new bike.

"I knew you'd like it, and plus, I think you're big enough to ride a two wheeler now, right?"

Kurt smiled as he watched his daughter nod devotedly, "Alright then." He stroked her hair tenderly and knelt down to her level, "Hey, but listen, kiddo; you know I'd love to teach ya, and I will, but I've got a rehearsal with the band tonight."

Leila frowned slightly, "Oh."

"But I'm free all day tomorrow, so right after school, you and me will go for a ride ok? And besides, I'm sure the boys don't mind taking you out this afternoon, right guys?"

Zack and Cody both smiled and nodded encouragingly, "Of course not," Cody said assuredly.

"There ya go, is that ok, princess?" Kurt asked gently. He watched Leila fiddle with the bottom of her shirt and awaited a reply, when suddenly, her eyes brightened as an idea seemed to form in her mind.

"Or, how about I just stay home from school and we go for a ride today?"

Kurt chuckled a bit, "Leila, it's your birthday, not a public holiday. I don't think Mum would like it too much if you stayed home from school, do you?" Leila shook her head at Kurt's rhetorical question as he then picked up her bike and walked towards the elevator, "Speaking of Mum, I'll take this up to her." He threw his car keys to Zack, "You guys go wait in the car and I'll be straight back out, alright?"

"Alright," the twins replied in unison.

Kurt then disappeared into the elevator while Zack and Cody led the way out of the hotel, chit chatting about one thing or another. Leila trailed behind them, dragging her feet and still fidgeting with her shirt.

By the time the three had reached Kurt's black SUV, Leila was a good few metres behind her brothers. Zack shoved the key in the passenger seat door and twisted it. Just as the tumblers inside the lock began to roll, Leila eventually caught up with the boys, towing her bag behind her. Cody raised an eyebrow in concern, "You ok, Leila?"

There was silence for a moment, before Leila finally licked her lips, "You guys memba that story Mum told us the other night bout when you's ditched school?"

"Remember it?" Zack scoffed, "We lived it, and the punishment that followed. Why?"

Leila hesitated for a split second, "Let's do it. I don't wanna go to school today. I hate it."

The twins instantly looked at each other in apprehension. Zack shrugged his shoulders at his brother's paranoid glances as Cody then placed a hand on Leila's shoulder, "Is something going on at school, Leila?"

"No," she spat in instant reply.

"Cause if there is, you know you can tell us anything."

"There isn't," she reinforced strongly, "I just don't like school."

"Well neither do I, but that doesn't mean we can just ditch it," Zack said.

Leila gave Zack a contradictive glare, "But Mum said it was your idea last time."

"Lei, we're not cutting school."

"But, Zack -"

"End of."

Leila strained her brain in a desperate attempt to develop another argument, but instead folded her arms across her chest in defeat at the firm look on Zack's face, "Fine then."

Ripping herself away from Cody's grip, Leila then pushed past Zack and swung open the passenger seat door, jumping in and slamming it behind her. Her arms remained decisively crossed against her chest, her face still twisted in an emotion of annoyance towards her brothers. Zack and Cody, on the other hand, were left standing outside of the car in complete confusion as the two of them then reluctantly climbed into the back seat, softly shutting the door behind them and not daring to utter a single word to their sister.

-zcZCzc-

Leila sat quietly against a tree right by the canteen and nervously gazed around, taking a bite out of her peanut butter and banana sandwich. It was one of Cody's specialties; the bananas were **thinly** sliced, the peanut butter was smooth - _never_ crunchy - and the crusts of the fresh, white bread were cut off, just like the way Zack liked his. Leila had never felt further away from her bothers ever before, and as she looked around the playground of her school and saw all the different girls and boys hanging around, playing tag and dangling from the monkey bars, she wished so badly that they were there with her.

Leila sighed, tugged her lunchbox closer towards her and clutched onto it tightly. So maybe she hadn't made the immense number of friends that she had told her family so confidently about, but underneath all of her disappointment and embarrassment in herself, Leila had the slight feeling that her parents and her brothers wouldn't be worried so much about the matter that she had lied to them, but more about the fact concerning why no-one was hanging around her.

Hastily gulping inwardly, Leila fretfully gawked up at the group of girls walking towards her. Cassandra Williams was seven years old and in the second grade. She was pretty and popular with dazzling green eyes and shoulder length chocolate brown hair. Being very tall for her age, she towered over all the other kids younger than her, and she certainly used this to her advantage. For a little girl, she had a very severe nasty streak, as Leila had found out on her very first day of school, not to mention every other day since then. And when you had a bully like Cassandra Williams unexplainably targeting you, you could put a sure bet on the fact that no other kids were willing enough to hang around you.

"Sitting all by yourself again, Martin?"

Leila felt the sudden feelings of intimidation creep over her as she clutched onto the gold, shell locket that hung around her neck, "Leave me alone, Cassie," she managed to say in a courageous whisper.

Cassie's allies all burst out into an array of giggles, "Aw, trying to stand up to me today, hey?"

Her failing attempts at bravery causing her ego to shrink back down to regular size, Leila tightened the grip that she held around her locket and abruptly shifted her vision to the ground.

"Whatcha' got for lunch for me today?"

Leila flinched as Cassie hastily snatched her lunchbox out from under her arm and began scoping her way through it, dumping out unwanted contents on the ground as she went. The bully's eyes suddenly brightened, "Ooh," she spoke in delight, "a cupcake."

As Cassie tossed the lunchbox aside and held up what she believed was her 'cupcake', Leila watched with a frown of disgust, "It's called a Crème Brule," she barked in a rapid gust of confidence, "and my brother made it for me, so give it back."

Cassie watched with a slick smile on her face as Leila jumped up on the spot and lunged forward to snatch the caramel pastry right out of her tormenter's hand. The older girl simply scoffed and then forcefully pushed Leila to the ground, as all the previous giggles from moments ago erupted into loud sounds of hysterical laughter. Spitting the dirt and grass out of her mouth, Leila felt her knuckles turn white at the gripping strength she held against her locket and tried her absolute hardest to force back the tears she could sense building up in her eyes.

"How much dumber can you get?" Cassie asked through choking snickers.

"Hey," came the unexpected sound of a new voice, "leave her alone!"

Leila sat up from where she lay on the ground and pushed her wavy, blonde hair out of her eyes. Standing above her was a boy, yet in her week and half that she had spent at Marsden Elementary, it was a boy that she hadn't seen before. His brown, mop top hair sat neatly combed to one side of his head revealing his sparkly blue coloured eyes, and even though he looked about the same age as Leila, he stood before Cassie and her crew with a level of assurance and bravery well beyond that of anyone else in the playground. Even so, Cassie merely sneered and shoved the boy on the ground next to Leila. He landed on his back and hoisted himself up on his elbows just in time to witness the bully dump Leila's Crème Brule in the dirt and stomp on it with the sole of her pink Nikes.

"That's fine," she said sarcastically, "I'm done here, anyway."

As the screeching laughter continued to emit from Cassie and her cohorts, Leila stood up and brushed herself off, looking down at the kid who had jumped in at her defence.

"What was that?" she sniped at him accusingly.

Following Leila's lead, he too stood up, "I was trying to help."

"Well maybe you need to try a little harder next time," Leila spat again. Expecting him to retort her rude behaviour, Leila waited for a response from the boy, but was instead surprised when he simply shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her.

"I'm Aidan," he said, "What's your name?"

Slightly thrown back by Aidan's friendly approach, Leila frowned and fiddled with the chain of her locket, "Leila," she eventually answered.

"Do you want to go play on the slide?"

Leila's jaw dropped, "You really wanna play with me?"

"Sure I do," Aidan replied, still smiling, "I'm new, and I don't have any friends yet."

"Why would you be new when school only just started?"

"I dunno. Just am." Aidan then bent down to the ground and picked up Leila's lunchbox, "So d'you wanna come play?"

There was a short pause as Leila silently took the lunchbox from Aidan. No-one had ever asked her to hang out with them at school before. For the past week and half it had been just her, by herself, sitting under the big tree by the canteen, trying her best to avoid Cassie Williams and waiting for the bell to ring so she could return to the sanctuary of her classroom. But now, someone actually wanted to be her friend.

Finally cracking a smile, perhaps for the first time ever at school, Leila licked her lips, "Kay."

-zcZCzc-

As the long, yellow school bus rounded the corner and slowly began to pull up at the curb, Leila beamed in delight at the sight of Zack and Cody standing by the bus stop waiting for her.

While the twins may have caught the same bus as their sister in the morning, being that Marsden Elementary was further away from the Tipton and finished later than Cheevers High, they always got back home that little bit earlier than her. There were some afternoons where they'd find themselves waiting for up to ten minutes for the elementary school bus to arrive, but as long as Leila got back to hotel safely every afternoon, and the boys didn't end up in serious trouble with Carey, then neither Zack nor Cody really minded.

The twins watched as Leila thanked the bus driver and plodded down the three steps before she then jumped down onto the concrete footpath and dashed over to them, the elated smile still clearly spread across her face.

"Hi guys!"

"Hey, Lei," Zack said, returning the one armed embrace he found himself wrapped in.

"You sure seem a lot happier this afternoon," Cody commented as he, too, received a tight squeeze around his waist from Leila.

"Yeah.." Leila trailed off as she remembered how much of a drama queen she had been that morning, "I'm sorry, I was wrong. School was really fun today."

"That's great!" Cody exclaimed as he held the front door to the Tipton open for his brother and sister at the end of their short journey, "I knew you'd end up loving school, you get that from me."

Zack scoffed, "Yeah, well, you are the only nerd in the family."

As the vicious sniping between Zack and Cody soon swung into full force, Leila rolled her eyes. She didn't understand why it was so hard for her brothers to realise how lucky they were to have each other. Sure, she loved having them around, but sometimes Leila wished that she had her own twin, or at least a sibling closer to her age to hang around with.

"Yeah, well, whatever," Zack suddenly snapped, breaking Leila's daydream, "I can feel another candy craving coming on, I'm outta here. And no, it's not a Maddie craving," he quickly barked as Cody went to counter his brother's insult.

Leila exhaled a deep sigh as Zack tore down the stairs to where Maddie leaned lazily against the candy counter. Readjusting her vision to the bigger picture, Leila gazed around the hotel lobby while Cody jabbed the 'up' button and waited for the elevator to arrive, when all of a sudden, something caught her eye from the opposite side of the room at the check in desk.

"Aidan!" she called out across the space. The little boy in the very recognisable orange t-shirt spun around at the sound of his name and smiled when he saw Leila, "Cody," she began, facing her brother, "that's my friend from school. Can I go say hi to him?"

Cody looked up and shot his glance across the lobby to find the boy Leila was referring to standing beside, who Cody assumed, was his mum. Taking a quick glimpse at the face of his watch, Cody then turned his attention back to Leila, "Yeah, ok, but don't be too long, alright? And come straight back upstairs when you're done." Leila nodded her head, "I'll take your bag," Cody then offered as Leila hastily slipped the bag off her shoulders.

"Thanks, Cody, I'll be quick."

As the elevator doors behind him came to a gradual divide, Cody forced them open for a fraction longer while he watched Leila harmlessly scurry across the wooden floor, past the candy counter and over to where Aidan was standing. A slight grin subtly formed across his lips at the instant friendly interaction that he was yet to be exposed to between Leila and one of her friends swung into full force, and then, feeling quite satisfied with the scene before him, Cody stepped into the elevator and allowed the doors to slowly shut behind him.

Maddie cocked her eyebrow and intriguingly watched Leila sprint past her counter at a million miles an hour, "She sure is in a hurry," she said, catching Zack's attention, "she didn't even stop by and say hi."

Zack looked over his shoulder, "Looks like it's just one of her friends from school." He then turned back to Maddie and smirked charmingly at her, "I'll take the biggest, sweetest, most chocolaty candy bar you got, sweet thang."

"It's nice to see you're cutting down," Maddie commented in sarcasm.

"It's not for me, it's for Leila."

"Didn't you and Cody already get her that locket?"

"Hey," Zack said defensively, exchanging his money for the candy bar in Maddie's hand, "nothing's too good for my little sister."

Maddie smiled, "Well, then, you should wait to see what London and I have planned for her before we go out tonight."

Zack nodded his head in approval, "Planned something for her, hey? C'mon, give me a hint, I promise I won't say a word."

Maddie frowned, "You mean that same way you promised me that you'd never crawl through the hotel vent system again after I caught you the first time?"

Zack inhaled an overdramatic gasp of shock and held his hand against his chest, "Name one time?"

"Well," Maddie began, "how about the time when you snuck out to take a picture of the twenty thousand dollar kiss from that wedding your mum was singing at? Or when you and Cody made your way out of the closet Max and Tapeworm locked you in during the battle of the bands, or the time when you almost missed your band recital, or when we were looking for Hot Peppers' treasure –"

"Hey!" Zack interjected, "That one was your idea."

Maddie laughed and shrugged her shoulders, "It still counts."

"Well, if you're not going to tell me, is there at least any chance I can tag along to wherever you and London are going out to tonight?"

"Afraid not. London's paying me to spy on her date tonight to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Why is she getting you to do that?"

Maddie hesitated for a moment, "Well… remember when she pretended to be smart to impress that Trevor guy?"

"Yeah?"

"And then she pretended to be poor to impress that Brandon guy?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, now," Maddie continued, cringing, "she's met this cute guy who's a great athlete, and he's really into javelin, and… you know what, you probably don't want to know."

"Yeah," Zack replied, nervously, "good call."

While at first the prospect of living under the same roof as London Tipton was nothing more to the boys than a feeling of pure excitement and anticipation, in the past four years, it had become a lot more than that. London was rich and famous, yes, but underneath all of the superficial aspects of her life and the scrutiny of the outside world she was constantly under, London was more than just a pretty, famous girl with a rich daddy. She was Zack and Cody's friend. And Leila's.

"What are you doing here?" Leila asked Aidan on the other side of the lobby in a mix of happiness and surprise.

"I'm staying here with my mum and dad till our new house is done," he answered, "What 'bout you?"

"I live here."

Aidan's eyes widened, "Really?"

"Yeah, with my brothers and my mum. She's a singer."

"Wow," Aidan remarked, clearly in awe of the fact Leila and her family inhabited the extravagant Tipton hotel. Throughout the entire lunch time they spent together, hanging around and playing on the slide, Leila and Aidan had pretty much learnt everything there was to know about each other in their short five year old lives. The topics of conversation had ranged from family stuff, to favourite hobbies and, of course, Leila's birthday, but not once did she mention to her new friend that she lived somewhere as unique and amazing as the Tipton.

"So…" Aidan started again, seemingly faltering over his words, "why does Cassie Williams pick on ya?"

Leila frowned at the reminder of her tormenter and shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno. She likes the food my brother makes me, I guess."

"Did you tell your mum she's being mean to you?"

"No!" Leila snapped, "It won't do anything. Cassie's still gonna be nasty, and even more mean if I tell on her."

There was a pause after Leila's slight outburst before Aidan came up with a new suggestion, "So tell your brothers," he said, "They can't get her in trouble 'cause they're not grownups, but they can tell her to leave you alone. Ya know, scare her, or something."

A further silence filled the air as Leila considered this new option. It wasn't as if she hadn't come up with the idea herself once before, but as far as Zack and Cody knew, Leila was doing fine at school with a huge number of friends and no problems within them at all. By asking the boys for their help, it was also be admitting that she had lied to them, and frankly, Leila wasn't sure what they would say to her in reaction.

"You should be able to tell them anything."

Leila looked up at the urging comment from Aidan. He grinned at her in support, eyeing her with an all knowing expression that he was right. Eventually sighing in defeat, Leila licked her lips and opened her mouth to speak, only to be suddenly interrupted.

"Ok, sweetie, should we go check out our –"

The pretty brunette woman who had been standing behind Aidan facing Mr. Moesby at the check in desk paused when she spotted the petite little blonde girl he had been talking to. She smiled a friendly smile and flicked a few of her loose auburn-brown locks out of her face, "And who do we have here?"

"This is Leila, Mum," Aidan replied, "She's my new friend from school."

"Well, hi Leila, I'm Aidan's mum, Natalie."

Leila returned the pleasant smirk that was still being directed at her.

"Mum," Aidan resumed, "Leila lives here. Do you think she can come see us sometime in our room?"

"I think we can work something out," Natalie agreed before facing Leila with a surprised expression, "You live here, honey?"

Leila nodded shyly, "Yeah, with my mum and my brothers up near the verrrry top," she responded, placing emphasis on her voice at the word 'very'. Natalie chuckled to herself and then pulled out a pen and a tissue from her hand bag.

"Well," she began, writing on the tissue, "we're on the sixth floor in room 629. Come down and see us whenever you like."

Taking the thin sheet from Natalie's hand and giving the room number a quick glance, Leila thanked her with a tone of increased confidence as the tall, lean woman then placed the pen back in her bag and squeezed Aidan's shoulder, "C'mon then, Aidan, we'll go unpack our stuff before Daddy comes back. Cya later, Leila."

"Bye, Natalie. Bye, Aidan."

Aidan smiled again, "Bye."

Leila swiveled around on the spot while her vision followed Aidan and Natalie all the way across the lobby until they had stepped into the elevator and disappeared. Her fingers impulsively crawled back up her neck and twisted in between the gold chain of her locket as she began to think of the proposal that Aidan had put forward to her about telling Zack and Cody about her bullying troubles at school. She curiously gazed over at the candy counter to find that Zack was no longer there, and instead there was just Maddie, idly flicking through a magazine. Deciding then to push all her thoughts of Aidan, the twins and Cassie Williams to the back of her mind, Leila shoved the tissue into the pocket of her jeans and then ran over to the candy counter to say hi to her babysitter.

-zcZCzc-

Leila quietly pushed the front door to suite 2330 open and peered around the corner. There she saw Cody sitting on the lounge doing what looked to be homework, but neither Zack nor Carey were anywhere in sight. Taking a deep breath, Leila stepped into the suite and shut the door behind her, gaining Cody's attention.

"Hey, kiddo," he said with a smile.

"Hi," she replied softly. She walked over towards where Cody was sitting, twirling her hair, "Where's Mum?"

"She's just out getting some groceries – she left a note. She shouldn't be too much longer."

"Oh. 'Cause I was gonna ask her if I could go up to London's room for a bit. Maddie told me before that they have something up there for me."

"Just go if you want," Cody responded, rubbing his sister's shoulder, "I'll tell her where you are when she gets back."

Leila nodded, but remained frozen where she stood, "Where's Zack?"

"In our room playing video games," Cody then twisted his sitting position towards his and Zack's room and raised his voice, "When he should be doing his homework!"

"Go and get –"

"Leila's out here!" Cody yelled back, interrupting the abusive retort that erupted from the room where Zack was.

"…screwed!" Zack reiterated after a moment of silence.

Shaking his head, Cody turned back to Leila, "So, you want to go upstairs, then?"

Leila paused, her vision directed to the floor. Her mind was cycling in hesitation, though it wasn't concerning whether she wanted to go up to the penthouse or not, but rather, she was contemplating over what Aidan had said to her in the lobby. It was becoming pretty obvious that Cassie Williams wasn't going to leave her alone anytime soon, and even though Leila hadn't been completely honest with either of her brothers about how life at school was going, she still felt that she should be able to talk to them about anything.

Emitting a deep sigh, Leila looked into Cody's eyes, "Can I tell you something instead?"

Cody furrowed his brow in concern and closed his text book in his lap, "Sure you can." He took hold of Leila's arms with each of his hands, "What's up?"

Leila swallowed, "Ya know how I said that I wasn't having any problems at school and that I had heaps of friends?" Cody nodded, "I lied," Leila continued, her voice cracking, "Aidan's my only friend, and I only met him today."

Cody shot his sister a confused look, "So why'd you make it up? Is everything ok?"

A feeling of relief swept over Leila as the tone in Cody's voice was caked in what sounded more like anxiety rather than anger. She then defiantly shook her head, "No. There's this girl in the second grade. Her name's Cassie and she always picks on me."

"What does she do?"

"She says mean things to me. And pushes me. And she always steals all the nice food that you make me. That's why I don't have any friends – 'cause everyone's sacred of her and doesn't want to be near me."

Cody felt his heart ache at the sound of fear that was cemented in every word Leila spoke. The sinking feeling of not knowing what to say or do began to creep up on him as he slowly began to collapse into the back of the lounge, when suddenly, he bolted upright as he spotted a lone tear that threatened to slide down Leila's cheek.

"Hey, hey, it's ok, Leila." Cody wiped the tear from her dark, blue eyes and then pulled her into a comforting embrace.

"I'm sorry," she said, this time a lot more calmly as she mumbled into Cody's chest, "I just didn't want you guys thinking I was a loser, or anything, for not making friends."

Cody's eyes widened as he reluctantly let go of Leila and held her back, generating strong eye contact with her, "You don't ever need to worry about that, ok? Ever. We'd never think about you like that - me or Zack. And you know you can talk to both of us about anything, right?" Leila nodded while Cody pushed a strand of blonde hair out of her face. He opened his mouth to speak again, but instead cocked his eyebrow as a new thought entered his mind, "Why'd you come to me instead of Mum or Zack?"

"'Cause Cassie wouldn't like it if I told on her to a grownup, so I don't want Mummy to know," Leila answered in an instant, "And Zack would've gone off more. You're not as angry as him, and I thought he would, like, beat up Cassie, or something."

"You bet!"

Cody and Leila both looked up as Zack's voice boomed from his bedroom doorway. Cody rolled his eyes, "You heard all that didn't you?"

"Yep. Listened to the whole thing through the door," Zack replied as he marched over to where his siblings were and placed a firm hand on Leila's shoulder, "Next time somebody picks on you, Lei, whether it be that snooty Williams chick or anyone else, you just tell them that your two big brothers from Cheevers High are gonna come down to your school and kick their butts."

"Don't tell her to say that!" Cody protested, "This kid causing Leila trouble is a girl in the second grade. The two of us aren't gonna beat up a little girl in the second grade!"

Zack paused and replaced his anger with a serious expression, "You're right."

A stunned silence abruptly filled the room as Cody grinned in satisfaction that Zack was finally starting to think more maturely. Or, at least he was, until his solemn appearance shattered to pieces, "If it's a little seven year old girl we're dealing with, you'd better leave her to me so you don't get hurt."

The grin immediately fell from Cody's face while Leila quietly giggled to herself at the sarcastic look that had spread itself across Zack's entire exterior, "Very funny," Cody grunted in annoyance.

"Hey," Zack responded, slapping Cody's shoulder, "it's what I'm good at."

Brushing his brother aside, Cody and his siblings both then looked up at the sound of the front door latch clicking out of place followed by Carey entering the suite.

"Hey, guys!" she exclaimed cheerfully. She placed the bags of groceries on the bench and smiled at the unison 'hi' she received in reply.

"Mummy?" Leila then instantly spoke, "Can I go up to London's room? She and Maddie said they wanted to see me."

Carey frowned, "Well, sure, that sounds great. But, sweetie," she restated, walking closer to Leila, "are you sure you don't want to invite a couple of your friends around here for a bit of a birthday dinner?"

Zack and Cody shot each other a direct glance at the mention of their sister's 'friends', but never the less, Leila simply shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, "Nah, that's ok. I just wanna stay 'round here with you guys and London and Maddie and stuff."

"Ok then," Carey agreed, sounding satisfied enough. She cupped Leila's face in her hands and kissed her on top of the head, "You can go up there now and then come back in an hour or so, ok?"

Leila nodded her head as she made her way to the door, "Thanks Mummy, love you."

"I love you, too."

"Bye, guys."

Zack and Cody both waved softly at their sister, "Bye."

The door closed gently behind Leila as she then headed towards the elevator and pressed the 'up' button, awaiting its arrival.

It was a quick ride two floors up as the exit then divided before Leila and she quietly stepped out onto the twenty-fifth floor.

Over all, she supposed she had had a pretty good fifth birthday, all except for the regular run in with Cassie Williams, anyway. But besides, Zack and Cody had more or less told her that she could use them as a threat. She just hoped that it would all be sorted out sooner rather than later, so that way she may be able to actually make some friends. Well, more than just Aidan, of course.

She tapped lightly three times on the door to suite 2500 upon her arrival and waited patiently for a response. Eventually there came one from the other side; "Who is it?"

Leila smiled at the recognisable high pitched voice of London Tipton, "It's Leila."

"One minute!"

Shifting her weight to the other side of her body, Leila frowned and began playing with her locket again as she remained waiting in the corridor. After a few seconds of listening to sounds of shuffling feet and quiet whispering from the other side of the door, Leila jumped in surprise as it suddenly flung open.

"Happy Birthday!"

The five year old's eyes broadened to an immense extent at the image she saw before her of Maddie, London and a tray with three plates and three huge pieces of chocolate cake, and not only was the slice in the middle the biggest, but it also had a tall, purple candle sticking out of the centre of it.

"What is all this?" Leila asked, still sounding shocked from the birthday surprise.

"Well," London began, "you stayed up here with me all last weekend and helped me pick out an outfit for the big party I went to. Plus, you told me how fabulous I looked, so I arranged this little get-together!"

"Yeah," Maddie added, motioning Leila into the suite and closing the door, "you achieved the impossible, Leila. Now, come on, blow out the candle and make a wish!"

The candle glowed brightly in the darkness of the room as Leila looked up at her two older friends, still beaming from ear to ear, before she shut her eyes tightly, made a wish, and blew out the candle.

-zcZCzc-

Leila shoved one final spoonful of cake in her mouth, sighed in satisfaction and then collapsed where she sat in between London and Maddie into the back of the heiress' comfy, pink lounge.

"That was sooo yummy, London."

"Well it should be," London replied, "What you've just eaten is made of the creamiest, milkiest Belgium chocolate imported straight from Belgiumia."

Maddie groaned as she collected the three empty plates and placed them on the coffee table, "Wow, London. That was almost an intelligent sentence."

Leila giggled to herself at the sight of the blank look that appeared on London's face.

"This has been a great birthday, guys," she gushed, still tasting the excess chocolate that clung to the side of her mouth.

"I'll bet," Maddie responded, "Especially since you've been hanging around your little boyfriend all day, right?"

Leila gagged, almost getting a real second taste of the rich chocolate cake, while she shot Maddie a wide-eyed glare.

"Ooh," London cooed in excitement, "Who's the lucky guy?"

"No-one!" Leila spat, "Aidan's just my friend. Boys are gross!"

"You might think that now," Maddie said, "But once you get older, you're definitely going to forget about that whole 'boys have cooties' thing. There's probably gonna be a couple of boys you wouldn't mind dating, either."

"Oh yeah?" Leila counted, "Then why won't you date Zack?"

Maddie's expression dropped at the sudden abruptness of Leila's question. After some long abused hesitation, Maddie jumped off the lounge and picked up the plates again, deciding to totally avoid the enquiry, "Speaking of dates, London has one to get ready for, right London?"

London's head tilted in confusion while the cogs in her brain slowly began to turn, "You mean Andrew?"

"No," Maddie corrected, "you dated Andrew last week."

"Oh. Jarrod?"

"No, you arranged to meet Jarrod next week. Today you've got a date with Braith."

There was a slight pause before the light bulb in London's head brightened her eyes, "Ohh, Braith! The guy with the big pointy stick!"

Maddie shook her head and then turned back to face Leila, "Are you ok to walk back down to your place by yourself?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Leila answered, nodding, "Zack and Cody are gonna take me for a ride on my new bike in the park."

With anticipation flowing in her voice, Leila then about faced and pulled open the penthouse door, "Thanks for inviting me up."

"It was no problem," London insisted, "Next time I need someone to help me choose an outfit, I'll know who to come to."

"Now there's something to look forward to," Maddie said in sarcasm. She waved softly at Leila who was now standing out in the hallway, "Cya later, Leila."

"Bye, Maddie."

The two shared a closing smile as Leila then walked towards the elevator, hearing the door to suite 2500 gently close behind her.

-zcZCzc-

Shortly after returning to her family's suite, Leila curiously raised an eyebrow as Carey flew out of the bathroom, power walking across the lounge room and half heartedly shoving on a pair of earrings. She re-directed her vision and cast her eyesight upon the image of Zack and Cody sitting on the lounge, lazily flicking through the television channels.

"What's going on?" she asked, closing the door before making her way further into the space of the suite.

Carey looked up at the sound of her daughter's voice, "Oh, Leila, good, you're home. Listen, I just got off the phone with Mr. Moesby. He told me that the other act that's meant to be performing in the lounge tonight cancelled at the last minute, so he's asked me to fill in for them," she explained, sighing in frustration, "I'll have to ring Maddie - see if she can babysit."

"Maddie's busy," Zack announced from his place on the lounge.

"Busy?" Carey echoed in further displeasure, "Busy doing what?"

"Trying not to get killed on London's date."

Carey halted on the spot and allowed this statement to revolve through her mind for a few moments. After a second or two, she simply shook her head, deciding not to enquire any further into the matter, "So what am I gonna do for a babysitter?"

"Zack and I can watch Leila," Cody offered. Carey bit her lip, somehow not sharing the same confidence that Cody felt.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Of course we are," Cody urged.

"Yeah," Zack added, "We'll be alright, won't we Lei?"

Leila nodded, "Yep. The boys said they're gonna take me for a ride on my bike."

"Well not at this time of the evening," Carey intensely cut in.

Leila's jaw dropped in disappointment, "What?" she snapped, "But they said they would. Remember, guys?"

Zack and Cody stared blankly at each other as they felt Leila's powerful glare cutting straight through them. Zack eventually shrugged his shoulders, "We do now."

"You forgot?" Leila interrogated in shock.

"Well, you didn't exactly remind us, either," Zack retorted, defending he and Cody.

"I don't care even if they did remember," Carey spoke again, gaining Leila's attention, "Nobody leaves this suite." She then shot her forceful gaze at the twins, "And I mean nobody, understand?"

All three kids then nodded and mumbled what could only vaguely be recognised as a 'yes' while Carey smiled and then softly kissed Leila on the top of her head, "Sorry I won't be here on your birthday night, sweetie. I should only be a couple of hours though, ok?"

"Ok," the five year old softly responded.

With her rules and regulations set, Carey then picked up her handbag from the kitchen bench and made her way to the door, "Love you!" she called at the last minute.

"Love you," came the three way unison reply.

The second that the door was closed and Carey's stilettos could no longer be heard click-clacking up the hallway, Leila spun around and instantly threw another fierce stare her brothers' way. Zack and Cody both returned a confused gawk, "What?"

Leila groaned in annoyance, "You knew that Dad wasn't gonna be here this afternoon. You said you'd take me for a ride!"

"Well, sorry, kiddo," Cody sympathised, "You were up in London's suite longer than we thought you would be and -"

"Whatever," she grunted in reply.

"Hey, come on, bud, can the attitude," Zack said in his best attempts to sound encouraging, "We can go riding anytime. Cody and I were about to go play some video games, you want in?"

"No," Leila spat in immediate response, "I'd rather be back up in London's room. She's got heaps of clothes and shoes and make-up and no stupid video games. I wish I could live with her."

Zack scoffed at the sudden increase of his sister's bratty approach and then stood up from the lounge, beckoning Cody to follow his lead, "Well, fine then. Your loss."

Leila remained frozen where she stood, her arms folded across her chest, as she watched her brothers make their way into their room. She groaned again, still in disbelief that Zack and Cody had more or less broken a promise to her. Something didn't feel right to her about being stuck locked up in her room on her birthday - even if she was only five. Straining her brain in a vying effort to come up with something to amuse herself with, a slick smile rapidly crept across her face as an idea finally struck her. Reaching into the depths of her pocket, Leila pulled out the scrunched up piece of tissue and gaped delightedly at the three digit number that stared back at her.

Quietly walking towards the front door, Leila waited until the sounds of Alien Kung-fu Slamma Jamma exploded from the twins' room before she gently pulled the beige door open and snuck out into the hallway of the twenty-third floor.

-zcZCzc-

"Leila," Aidan began nervously, "I don't know about this. You told my mum that we were going up to your room."

Leila rolled her eyes at yet another worrying comment from Aidan. She pulled open the manual door to the service elevator and carefully peered around the corner before beckoning him to follow her lead.

"It's fine," she urged in annoyance, "I wasn't gonna hang around my place all night doing nothing, and you haven't even had the chance to explore the hotel yet, right?"

"Well, yeah, but –"

"So, who else would be better than me to show you all the cool things around here? Starting from the bottom up."

Aidan watched as Leila then stood up on her tippy-toes and gazed through the glass window in the basement door. Discovering the room was empty, she smiled and then swung the door open.

Aidan frowned, "This is the basement. What's so cool about this?"

"Arwin lives down here. He's the hotel engine guy."

"That's the cool part?" Aidan asked in confusion.

"If ya let me finish," Leila groaned, "The cool part is the secret room back here."

"Ha," Aidan laughed, "Secret room? You gotta be –"

Stopping dead in his tracks, Aidan's sentence slowly trailed off as Leila lifted a picture of Carey off the side wall of the basement. He looked on in amazement as the wall cracked open, and then with one forceful push from Leila, it parted all the way, creating a doorway into what was, in fact, a secret room.

"- kidding me," he eventually concluded.

Leila shot him a snide look, "Told ya."

"How'd you know about this?" Aidan asked while he and Leila entered the joining room.

"Arwin told Zack and Cody and they told me," she replied, shutting the door so it left the smallest of openings.

Aidan continued to gawk around the whole room and allowed his senses to go stir crazy. He had never seen anything like this before – the mystery and secrecy that surrounded the entire situation was so enticing. Aidan's eyes then widened as they cast onto the image of a cage on the opposite side of the room.

"What's that?" he inquired, gesturing towards the large barred out space.

Leila looked up in the direction Aidan was pointing in, "That's where the monster used to live," she answered simply.

"Monster?" Aidan echoed in disbelief.

"Yep. Arwin made a monster but it was too scary, or something like that, so now it lives with his mum."

"Yeah, right, now you're just trying to scare me."

Aidan eyed Leila suspiciously as she continued to scope her way through Arwin's undisclosed belongings before looking up to meet her friend's glare, "I didn't lie to you about the room, did I?"

Just as Aidan felt further feelings of concern creep up on him, a sudden loud noise echoed throughout the entire basement causing both of the kids to jump. In one swift movement, both Leila and Aidan dove across the room and silently gazed through the tiny gap in the hidden door. There was then another piercing sound that was clearly recongnised as the elevator door closing, shortly followed by someone entering the room.

"Yes, mother, Mr. Moesby transferred the call."

Aidan raised a confused eyebrow at the image of the man in glasses and blue overalls who could be seen in the next section of the basement, "Who's that?"

"Shush!" Leila sniped.

Aidan swallowed and then lowered his voice to a whisper, "Who's that?"

Leila rolled her eyes again, "It's Arwin. We gotta get out of here before he catches us."

Leila fell into silence as she tried to think of a plan. After a few seconds, she placed her finger against her lips reminding Aidan to keep quiet then she slowly began crawling on all fours out of the secret room.

Arwin carelessly scribbled on a piece of paper at his desk while he listened to his mother ramble on and on about one thing or another, while unbeknownst to him, the two five year olds carefully and silently crawled across the tiled floor behind him.

"Yes, mother," Arwin said, "it's great to hear you're enjoying your second honeymoon… yes, I also heard Greece is lovely this time of year. Hey, you haven't seen cousin Milos at all, have you?... You have? Well, did you ask him for that money he owes me?... Oh. You spent it on another owl statue.."

Releasing a sigh of relief upon their exit, Leila and Aidan then rapidly clambered up the stairs until they felt they were safely out of Arwin's hearing range and jumped into the elevator.

"That was close," Aidan said, exasperated from their hasty escape.

"Yeah," Leila agreed, "it's good, huh?"

Aidan shot daggers at her, "Oh, come on," she argued, "have a sense of adventure!"

The elevator doors gradually separated and the two were in the lobby again. Aidan stepped out and gazed around timidly, worried that his mum or someone else who knew they weren't supposed to be wandering around by themselves would see him.

"Where now?" he asked Leila reluctantly. Leila hesitated for a moment before her eyes brightened in delight.

"I'm hungry," she announced, "let's go check out the kitchen."

"How can you be hungry?" Aidan asked while he tried his best to match Leila's fast pace past the front doors of the hotel, "Didn't you tell me you just ate a humungous piece of cake?"

Leila paused for a moment, "What's ya point?"

-zcZCzc-

Finally deciding that six losses in a row was enough to deal with, Cody pushed open his and Zack's bedroom door and made his way towards the kitchen.

"What do you feel like?" he called back to Zack while his eyes began scanning through the stacks of frozen food in the freezer.

"Dunno," Zack replied as he joined Cody, "how about a nice, big slice of humble pie?"

Cody rolled his eyes, "Ha ha," he exclaimed in sarcasm, "you're _so_ funny."

"No, what's funny is you trying to shoot up those alien space ships on that game. All you gotta do is hit one button."

Ignoring Zack's further taunts, Cody pulled out a box of pizza and spun around. He held the box up so his brother could see it, "Pizza?"

Zack shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever, anything's good."

Feeling satisfied enough, Cody closed the freezer door and then, after discarding the cardboard box, he placed the pizza in the oven to cook.

"I'll go tell Leila dinner won't be long."

"Good luck," Zack warned in reply from where he sat on the lounge, "She seemed pretty upset that we forgot to take her for a ride before."

Cody scoffed, "I've seen worse tantrums from you. I'm sure I can handle whatever a five year old can dish out."

Mocking his brother as he turned on the television, Zack waited for the dialogue between Cody and Leila to resound from her room. After a second or two went by and Cody hadn't spoken a single word since opening the bedroom door, Zack frowned and looked up, "Everything ok?"

Cody remained silent for a moment, "Is she in the bathroom?"

"I dunno, why?"

Zack continued to watch as Cody took a few steps to his right and tapped gently on the bathroom door, calling Leila's name. When there was no response, Zack began to fret.

"Open the door," he instructed while he joined Cody where he stood. Doing as he was asked, Cody opened the door only to be greeted with a sudden sinking feeling of panic.

"She's not here!"

Zack's mouth gaped, "We gotta find her!"

"No duh," Cody countered while he raced over to the oven and turned it off, "Mum's gonna kill us!"

"Not just that," Zack started. He walked over to Cody as the lump of extreme concern maintained its growth in his throat, "We all remember what happened last time one of us went rebelling through the hotel."

Cody gasped slightly and then gently stroked the left side of his face, the raised and broken skin of his scar sending shivers up his fingertips.

"We really gotta go."

Zack nodded in agreement, "Now."

-zcZCzc-

Aidan gawked down the food shoot and gulped. Even as he squinted his eyes as much as he could without closing them completely, he still wasn't able to see anything in the long, tunneled darkness.

"Where's it go?"

Turning around to face Leila, he frowned as she stuffed a piece of chicken in her mouth that she only narrowly managed to take while Chef Paolo wasn't looking.

"I dunno. I think the cooks use the dumb-head waiter thingy more than that thingy, anyway."

"Are we even allowed to be in here?"

Leila gazed at her friend in disbelief, "It's the main office for the whole entire kitchen. I'm gonna say, no."

Aidan sighed. He made a mental note never to upset Leila if this was the kind of riot she went on after an argument with her brothers, "Well, can we go then?"

Leila hesitated for a moment. Licking her fingers clean of chicken seasoning, she smiled in approval and then grabbed Aidan's hand, "Ok then," she replied, suddenly jumping into the food shoot, "Let's go."

Before he had the opportunity to figure out what was going on, Aidan let out an all mighty scream as he and Leila tore down the food shoot. He shut his eyes tightly and shook his head in amazement at the fact that Leila was simply laughing and seemingly having a good time as the two of them continued on, twisting and turning, sliding against the metal beneath them, until they finally came to a crash landing at the bottom of the duct.

Taking a few seconds to recover, Aidan sat up and rubbed his head, studying the new room he found himself in.

"The garbage room?" he announced in frustration. He looked over his shoulder to make sure Leila was ok, though once he found that she was, he reverted right back to the irritation that had immediately consumed him, "You said you were gonna show me all the cool things in the hotel, but now we're in the garbage room?"

Leila sat up too, surprised by the slight anger that filled Aidan's voice, "I'm sorry," she spoke sincerely. Her mind began cycling again as she tried to come up with a way to make it up to her friend. Although, sitting in the very bottom of the hotel surrounded by disgusting, dirty garbage wasn't exactly giving her the inspiration she needed. All of a sudden, her eyes widened in realisation. She smiled at Aidan, "Yeah, ok, this garbage stinks, but I know a place that is the total opposite."

-zcZCzc-

Zack and Cody jumped out the elevator, almost knocking over an old lady as they did, and frantically looked around the lobby. The both sighed upon realisation that there was nobody in the area below the height of three feet, and then quickly walked down the small staircase, surveying the room as they went.

"Where could she be?"

"Anywhere," Cody answered his brother anxiously, "Remember when we had to hunt down the entire Drew Crew? They were hanging out in so many different places that Moesby ended up having to enlist Esteban's help to find them all."

"Speaking of Moesby," Cody looked in the direction where Zack was nodding to find Mr. Moesby walking angrily towards them.

"Alright, where is it?"

Zack and Cody shot each other a blank look, "Where's what?" Zack opted.

Moesby groaned, "The master key! There was a master key card in the top drawer of my desk and now it's gone." He turned to Zack with a cynical grin, "Any thoughts, Zack?"

"No," Zack instantly replied, "Why would I steal one when I have my own?"

"Because your mother confiscated it from you," Moesby countered, "I know she did."

"He's telling the truth Mr. Moesby. I've been with him all day," Cody said, leaping to his brother's defense.

Moesby gritted his teeth, "Don't try and play the innocent, boys," he warned sharply, "Even with that key card, there is nowhere in this hotel that you can hide where I won't find you."

Then with that said, the cranky little man was gone, leaving Cody with a shuddering feeling in his body, and Zack with an unexpected idea.

"That's it!" he exclaimed.

"What?"

Zack turned around and grabbed Cody's shoulder, "Leila has it. Like Moesby said, that key card can let us hide anywhere, and what's the one thing Leila would want to do after we've upset her?"

Cody nodded his head in surprise, "I'm impressed, Zack. But here's the new question; if she has access to any and every room in the hotel, where do we look first?"

The twins both fell into silence as they strived their hardest to come up with any leads or ideas as to where Leila had disappeared to, until, astoundingly, Zack felt his mind erupt with another suggestion.

"I've got another idea."

Zack then patted Cody's shoulder and took off back towards the elevator.

"Two in one day?" Cody asked as the two of them disappeared behind the automatic doors, "Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

-zcZCzc-

The elevator doors steadily opened as it landed with a ding and Leila and Aidan stepped out onto the twenty-fifth floor. There wasn't much discussion between them as they began their walk up the hallway; all Aidan did was prolong the gaze he held at the Tipton master key card that Leila grasped tightly in her hand. After no more than a minute or so, the two of them then found themselves facing the door to suite 2500.

Aidan kept his lips pressed firmly together, but curiosity soon kicked in, "Ok, where are we now?"

"This is the penthouse," Leila answered.

"What's that?"

"It's the nicest room in the whole hotel," she explained, "My friend London lives here."

"So if she's your friend, why do we need that card thing to get inside?"

Leila fiddled with the key card as she tried to fit it correctly in the slot, "'Cause she's not home."

"You're just gonna break into your friend's room?" Aidan asked in shock, "Ya know, this is really starting to not feel like much of an adventure!"

Just as the card successfully fit into the slot and a high pitched beep was heard from the electronic lock, Leila suddenly froze at the sound of a pair of voices she could here resonating up the hallway.

"I know you're trying to show me around, Leila, but –"

"Shush!" Leila snapped, covering Aidan's mouth with her hand, "Do you hear that?"

The voices grew louder and closer as Leila then inhaled a breath of realisation, "It's Zack and Cody!" she exclaimed, taking her hand away from Aidan's mouth.

"Your brothers?" he asked anxiously, "Aw, man, we are so in trouble."

"Not if you keep quiet!" Leila sharply whispered. She turned back to face the open door of the penthouse and considered diving in to hide behind the lounge or in the closet. No, she rapidly decided, it was far too risky. If she and her cohort were going to try hiding, it had to be in a place where the twins wouldn't think to look. She quickly looked up and down the hallway, desperately in search of a spot that fit the description she was looking for. All she could find, however, were other suites.

Grabbing Aidan's arm, Leila then bolted around the corner, away from the voices of her brothers, and peered up the next hallway.

"What's that door there?" Aidan abruptly asked. Leila followed where he was pointing to as her eyes then fell upon the image of a door with a fire sign on it and a fluorescent green light hanging on the wall above that read 'EXIT'.

"The fire exit," she replied observantly, "C'mon, it's the only thing we got."

As Leila then pushed the door open quietly, Aidan trailed behind her nervously.

The room they entered was dark. There were a few lights that hung from the ceiling way up above them and some more that lined the wall all the way down the ground floor, but they didn't add much illumination at all. Leila and Aidan found themselves standing on a metal balcony with a railing standing out in front of them. Leila assertively crept to the edge and glimpsed over. Beneath where she and Aidan stood was what looked to be an endless amount of staircases that spiraled continuously down to the basement. Smiling in approval, she walked away from the barrier and turned back to Aidan.

"Now this is what I call cool," she spoke in wonderment, "I haven't been in here ever before."

"Do you still have the card?" Aidan asked, refusing to agree.

"Yeah, it's in my –" Leila suddenly paused as she discovered her pockets were empty, "Uh, no. I must have dropped it when we were running."

"Great," Aidan spoke cynically, "Can we please just go back to your place now?"

Leila frowned and followed Aidan with her eyes as he carefully began walking down the first set of stairs, "I thought we were meant to be having fun?"

Even as he heard Leila scurrying along to catch up behind him, Aidan continued to face straight ahead, "Yeah, me, too. But this isn't fun."

The two then rounded the bottom of the staircase as they reached what they presumed was the twenty-fourth floor.

"If I knew that we were gonna just be running around trying to stop ourselves from getting in trouble, then I never would've come with you."

Leila stopped, taken aback for a moment, "Why?" she sniped, "Because you're such a goody two-shoes?"

"No!" Aidan retorted, "'Cause I don't want my mum to get worried about me! She's got enough to think about."

"Oh yeah?" Leila challenged, "Like what?"

Just as the two reached the door that lead out to the twenty-third floor, Aidan came to a halt. Leila watched him, her arms folded defiantly against her chest. After a second or two, Aidan finally turned around. He appeared softer and less angry than he had been less than a minute ago. Eventually, he emitted a sigh, "My granddad's pretty sick."

Leila's eyes widened. She felt her arms crumble back to her side at the sight of the obvious sadness that coursed through Aidan's body.

"That's why we moved here," he went on instantly, "so we could be closer to him. Mum says that he's doing ok, but that he has to go away really soon."

Leila's heart sank. She opened her mouth, and after forcefully bringing her voice box to life, she managed to speak, "I'm sorry, Aidan."

He shrugged, "It's ok."

"You should've told me." Leila placed a hand delicately on his shoulder, "I'm sorry about today, too. I go too far sometimes, hey?"

Aidan cracked a smile, "Maybe not _too_ far, I mean, the look on the cook guy's face was pretty funny when he saw his chicken was gone."

Leila returned the warm grin, "Yeah, it was, wasn't it?"

It wasn't long before the kids then exploded into laughter at the memory of Chef Paolo's surprised expression, as well as the Italian profanities that he had let loose, once he had realised some of his famous Chicken Paolo had been taken.

"I'll get you out of this," Leila then spoke assuredly, "And, hey, at least we found this really cool fire room, right?"

Aidan took a moment to examine the contracted space around him, "Yeah. It could be our own secret room."

Leila smiled again, "I like it. A secret place just for you and me when we feel like an adventure, kay?"

Aidan nodded enthusiastically, "Ok. But I think we're done with adventures for today."

Reluctantly agreeing, Leila turned back to the door and swung it open, "Yeah, how about we just go –"

Trailing off at the sight of the unexpected look of fright on Aidan's face, Leila flicked her head around to see what it was that had her friend looking so uneasy, though as soon as she did, she gulped and immediately regretting doing so.

"Busted," Zack and Cody said in unison.

Leila exhaled a disappointed breath, "How'd you find us?"

"We knew you had the master key," Cody began.

"And we knew where to look because you only just finished whining to us about how much you loved London's suite and how you wanted to live there."

Leila glared at Zack, "But how did you know that we'd be down here on our floor?"

Reaching into his back pocket, Cody then pulled out the Tipton master key card, "You dropped this outside of the penthouse. Since you lost your unlimited access, we just figured you'd come back home."

Ultimately giving in, Leila and Aidan sadly shared a look of defeat. Taking note of the apprehension that still filled Aidan's eyes, Leila released a sigh of disappointment in herself before looking back up at her brothers, "Look, don't tell on Aidan. None of this was his fault, it was all my idea. He just followed me… or, I made him follow me, but still, please don't tell his mum."

Zack and Cody stared at each other, weighing up their options, and then looked back at the kids. They both knew how demanding Leila could be when she wanted to, and they were also absolutely certain that she wouldn't lie all the blame on herself unless it were the truth. And besides, they thought, after Leila and Aidan were lucky enough to be caught out by them and not by any adult, the twins were pretty sure that their sister and her friend wouldn't be running riot through the hotel again anytime soon.

"Ok, fine," Zack agreed, "we won't tell his mum." He then turned to Cody, "You wanna walk him back down?"

"I'll be ok," Aidan cut in confidently, "and I'll go straight home."

"You sure?" Cody asked as Aidan nodded in reply, "Alright, but just make sure you do."

"I will," Aidan replied. He smiled at Leila, who returned the gesture to her new partner in crime, "Bye, Leila."

"Cya."

Watching her friend disappear around the corner and thinking of all the exciting escapades they were caught up in that evening, it wasn't long until a wider grin had once again snuck its way across Leila's face. However, as she turned around and came face to face with the matching expressions of disappointment and irritation, she soon felt the feeling of happiness drop from her exterior.

"You, on the other hand," Zack recommenced, "are not getting off that easy."

Leila sensed the trivial feelings of intimidation creep up on her as her ego began to rapidly shrink under the authority that her brothers held over her. It was an emotion that she utterly hated, but being the youngest in the family by the space of a whole decade, it was one that she experienced a lot of the time.

She walked through the front door to suite 2330 as Cody held it open for her, but the second that she entered, Leila allowed her anger to take over as she made a quick dash for her room.

"Hold it!" Cody called to her. She froze on the spot and then slowly turned around.

"You've really gotta work on covering your tracks more," Zack instigated as he shut the suite door, "What were you thinking?"

Leila hesitated, "Well, I didn't think that you guys would be smart enough to figure it –"

"Not about covering your tracks," Zack interjected, clearly becoming more annoyed, "about taking off and rampaging around the whole hotel?"

Leila shrugged. She didn't particularly feel like talking, and the twins were beginning to find it extremely obvious.

"Come and sit down," Cody offered, sounding less ticked off than Zack. He sat himself on the coffee table in front of the lounge with Zack standing by his side and looked up as Leila took her place, "Do you know how worried we were, we thought something bad was going to happen to you."

"Well it didn't," Leila instantly barked in reply.

"But what if it did?"

Zack groaned from where he stood as he listened in, frustrated in the fact that the conversation seemed to be going nowhere, "Look," he cut in, "the bottom line is that you can't just go running around the hotel by yourself causing trouble."

Leila glowered at Zack hypocritically, "Why not? You do it all the time!"

"Yeah, but you're five years old!" Zack shot back, countering his sister's volume.

Leila scoffed and jumped up from the lounge, "None of this would've happened if you just took me for a ride on my bike!"

Cody stood up, too, as he and Zack were forced to watch Leila stomp off angrily towards her bedroom, "It's not our fault Mum said no," he argued, "All Zack and I are trying to say that you could've been hurt!"

"Oh, yeah? Then what?" Leila shouted again as she ripped the door open, "I'd end up with a big, fat, ugly scratch like yours?!"

The twins both flinched as the noise of Leila's door slamming shut echoed throughout the entire suite. With the remnants of her last insult still lingering in the air, Zack instantly turned to face his brother. Though his blood was boiling over with aggravation only moments ago, he immediately felt it run cold as his vision fell onto the image of his twin's scar.

Sensing the set of eyes slicing right through him, as well as the anger that bonded with them, Cody looked up at Zack, "Leave it, Zack."

Zack blinked as the sound of his brother's voice snapped him from his trance. He glanced up to meet the identical features that were staring him down, but soon pried himself away and began marching in the direction of Leila's room.

"She can't say stuff to you like that," he spoke coldly.

"Why not?" Cody asked, lowering his voice and grabbing Zack's arm, "Because of the secret background story that she has no idea about?"

Zack stopped as he allowed this claim to rotate through his mind. Cody waited patiently and then gradually released his grip from his twin as he felt the tension surge out of Zack's body.

"It's ok," Cody assured him, "I really couldn't care less. She's upset; she just needs time alone to calm down a bit, ok?"

Zack held his gaze against the carpet beneath his feet, but nodded his head all the same. He didn't mean to get into such a state over Leila running out on him and Cody, but the combined feelings of worry and angst for her along with the cruel reminder of his brother's accident purely compelled him to do so. For once he just wished that he could get through one day without having to think about any of it.

"Now then," Cody spoke, once again awakening Zack's awareness, "pizza?"

-zcZCzc-

**Thursday –**

Zack uncurled himself and sprawled out on the floor of the hallway, nervously looking around. The space was empty. He gazed up the long corridor, only to be met with further emptiness.

Gaining a little more confidence, Zack slowly raised himself up, shifted his weight and then placed his hands back on the ground beside him. A shooting pain whizzed up his arm as he let out a hiss of pain and studied the spot where the sting had emerged from. Zack frowned curiously at the small shard of glass he saw sticking out from the soft flesh of his hand. After digging it out with his finger nail, he threw it to the ground.

It was then that Zack suddenly realised that the passage wasn't so vacant anymore. He gasped under his breath at the long stream of broken glass that flowed all the way up the hall. So many different questions impulsively filled his mind. Where was he? What was happening? Why was there glass everywhere?

As his head began to spin in confusion, it was abruptly snapped back to its balanced state as an image on the horizon of his vision caught his attention. It was another figure, rocking, shaking. Crying.

"Cody!"

Zack hastily dragged himself to his feet and dashed over to where his brother was, collapsing to his side.

"Cody," he spoke again, fearfully and in more desperation. He collected Cody's head in his hands and lifted it up. He cringed at the red, warm blood that seemed to be attracted to his hands. It covered him, and it covered Cody, pouring from the deep cut beside his left eye.

Failing to stay composed for any longer, Zack began crying. It turned to hysterics as Cody called his name over and over again, urgently wondering why his brother wasn't helping him…

"Zack!"

Zack's eyes shot open. He uncurled himself and sprawled out in his bed, nervously looking around. But, thankfully, this space wasn't empty.

"Zack," Cody said again, carefully pulling his brother up into a sitting position, "Are you ok?"

Zack swallowed hard and tried to stop panting. A cold sweat was dripping from his forehead, his hands were shaking and his eyes were stained with tears.

"What happened?" he asked hoarsely.

"You had a bad dream," Cody answered as he comfortingly rubbed his twin's back, "You were shaking, and you kept saying my name. I didn't know what to do."

Zack clapped his eyes shut as the images from his nightmare began to recreate themselves in his mind.

"Are you ok?" Cody repeated.

Swallowing back another chunk of nerves, Zack slowly nodded his head, "Yeah."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Zack hesitated. As his breathing started to slow back to its regular pace he glimpsed at Cody and noticed that he was already dressed for school. More importantly, though, and unlike in his nightmare, his little brother was completely safe and unharmed.

"It happened again," he answered simply.

Cody raised an eyebrow, "What did?"

Shooting his brother an oblivious look, Zack sighed. He licked his lips and opened his mouth to speak, but quickly changed his mind. Instead, he unsteadily placed his forefinger against the left side of Cody's face, hastily moving it away a mere second or two later. Cody's heart sank as Zack lowered his head and fixed his sight to the camouflage duvet that covered his bed.

"Zack," he started, "Zack, look at me."

Zack eventually did as he was asked as Cody moved his grip to his twin's arm, "It's not going to happen again. It's over. Nothing like that will ever happen again, ok?"

Maintaining the strong eye contact that he held with his brother, Zack reluctantly nodded his head, "Thanks," he whispered silently.

Cody smiled softly and wrapped his arm around Zack's shoulders, drawing him into a one armed hug, "You'd do the same for me."

They sat like that for a moment, serenely and calmly allowing the stillness they created to overtake the few remaining feelings of angst and fright until Zack felt his adrenalin drain.

The twins both looked up as a quiet knock was then heard at their door. Glancing over at Zack, Cody waited as his older brother quickly wiped his eyes before he turned back to the door and called for the visitor to come in.

Little by little, the gold door knob twisted as the door then opened and revealed the petite figure of Leila standing in the entrance.

There was an awkward hush for a moment. "Mummy said Zack has to get up and that you two have to come out for breakfast," she eventually spoke.

Zack and Cody both nodded as Leila waited in the doorway, playing with her locket. She studied the pattern of the carpet beneath her feet while the memories of the argument with her brothers from the night previous popped back into her mind.

"Guys," she began, looking up, "I'm really, really, really sorry."

Leila waited with a breath held in for the twins to say something to her. The boys glanced at each other and grinned, knowing that their little sister was breaking a sweat. After what felt like an eternity, Zack and Cody shot a forgiving gaze at Leila.

"That sure is a lot of 'reallys'," Zack said leniently.

Leila sighed in relief and skipped over to where the twins were sitting on Zack's bed, "I didn't mean to make you guys so angry," she continued while she joined them.

"We know," Cody said understandingly, "you just had us worried, ya know?"

Leila nodded, "I know. And thanks for not telling Mum."

"It's fine," Zack said, brushing off the request, "she'd probably get just as angry at Cody and me, anyway."

Leila giggled to herself and then about faced where she stood, "Come on, then, it's time for school."

Zack groaned as he reluctantly threw the blankets off himself and climbed out of bed. In almost an instant, Leila had happily pranced out of the boys' room and was back in the lounge room with Carey.

Cody picked up the seemingly large pile of books off his bed side table and shoved them neatly into his bag, while Zack rummaged through his drawer and pulled out some clean clothes. Changing out of his pyjamas, he pulled a pair of jeans over his boxer shorts and yanked his head through the neck hole of a fresh t-shirt.

"You gonna be ok?" Cody asked in amongst the quiet. Zack looked up to meet his brother's concerned glance.

"Yeah," he replied, "yeah, I'll be fine."

Smiling in satisfaction, Cody waited at the door for Zack to join him with his less organized school bag and the two then walked out into the lounge room to join Carey and Leila.

"Morning guys," Carey cheerfully greeted, "Before I forget to tell you, Leila's got an appointment at the dentist this afternoon – just for a check-up."

Cody frowned, "Wasn't Dad meant to be seeing her this 'arvo?"

"He was," Carey confirmed, "but I had to ring him and cancel. I totally forgot I had even made the appointment. So, instead of getting on your regular bus after school, can you both please hop on the one that goes by Leila's school so you can walk her around to meet me at the dental clinic?"

The boys both nodded, "Sure."

"Great. So, Leila," Carey went on, turning to her daughter, "instead of getting on your bus after school, you have to wait at the gate for Zack and Cody to come and get you, ok?"

Leila nodded with a mouth full of pancakes, "Or-keh," she mumbled.

Carey beamed with motherly delight before offering the boys their breakfast, "Thanks, guys."

"It's no problem," Zack responded, "as long as she doesn't run off, right Lei?"

Leila fixed a defiant stare at Zack and his mention of the previous day's happenings and then playfully stuck her tongue out at him, only to have a chunky lump of half chewed pancake to spill out on her plate in front of her.

"Ew," the twins both affirmed in a feeling of mutual grossness. Leila simply gawked at the edible lump and then, shrugging her shoulders, scooped it back up on her fork and shoveled it down her gob.

-zcZCzc-

The cafeteria of Cheevers High School was certainly a place of crowded, frenzied accumulation, especially during the day's long awaited lunch period. All of the lengthy, green lunch tables were filled to the brink with noisy, over-stimulated teenagers – each section evenly separated into the many various cliques and age groups. It was definitely a place of great intimidation, particularly for a new student.

In amongst the lively swarm of raging hormones, somehow, an empty seat was located and stolen out of opportunity. This prospective moment, however, may not have been the wisest move for a pupil considered to be 'fresh meat' to take.

"Hey," a deep voice boomed, "that's my seat."

The fresh student looked up, her muscles cramped in tight nervousness.

"Move," the rough looking boy demanded.

Feeling impulsively helpless, the girl nodded, speechless, and went to gather her food tray and backpack.

"Don't tell her what to do," came the addition of a second voice. The girl stopped in her tracks and gazed back up to see that another boy had joined them. He was blonde, perhaps not the tallest guy around, and had striking blue eyes that sat alongside an obvious facial marking.

"Oh, yeah?" the oppressor countered, "Who's gonna make me?"

"I am," the blonde boy fiercely responded, purposely drawing attention to the left side of his face. The bully studied his challenger's exterior and subtly gulped at the image of the tangled scar that stretched down the boy's face. "Now, leave her alone," he urged.

The tormenter hesitated, while the girl watched on at the look of boldness in the blonde boy's eyes. Eventually, the bully scoffed and turned around, "Whatever."

The other boy smiled in success and then turned his awareness back to the girl, "Mind if I sit down?"

The girl scrunched her brow in confusion, "Sorry, but if you're as much as a bully as he is, then I'd rather –"

"What?" he asked, "Oh, no way, I'm really not. It's the scar that scares them," he argued, pushing aside his bangs to make the marking more visible, "I wouldn't hurt a fly, I swear."

The girl slowly nodded, her vision not leaving the nasty gash on the boy's face.

"I slipped over in the bathroom when I was twelve and cut my head on the shower door."

The girl's mouth gaped, "Oh, no, I wasn't wondering –"

"Yeah you were."

The girl sat in silence for a moment, and then giggled to herself at the boy's joking smile, pushing her own blonde hair out of her face.

"I'm Cody," the younger twin offered, projected his hand forward. The girl seemed to waver for a split second, before she gradually accepted the proposal and took Cody's hand in her own.

"Bailey," she replied.

"So, Bailey," Cody began, still smiling as he took his seat, "what brings you to Boston, I don't think I've seen you before?"

Bailey nodded again, "I moved here from Kansas with my parents and a few of my sisters."

"A _few_?"

"Yeah, I'm one of ten. My three younger sisters and two of my older ones moved with us, but the four eldest weren't even living with us anyway – being adults and all. What about you, do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah, a brother and a sister."

"Are you the eldest?"

Cody cringed at his most hated of all questions, "Technically, no. My brother and I are twins and he's ten minutes older. Our sister turned five yesterday."

"Aw, how cute," Bailey cooed.

"So what's Kansas like?"

Bailey paused in uncertainty for an instant, "A lot different to Boston," she finally answered, "I'm from a really small town called Kettlecorn. I do miss it – a lot, actually, but there were times when I was just so sick of living on the farm. I mean, our town was so tiny that if you drove through Kettlecorn and blinked, you'd wind up stuck in the hustle and bustle of Kettlepod."

"Wow," Cody commented in amazement, "that sounds nuts. But you're happy to be in Boston?"

Bailey shrugged, "I guess so. It's a huge change, but it's a good one."

As the two then fell into silence, Bailey went to take a hefty bite out of the indescribable sandwich she had taken from the cafeteria line.

"Er, I wouldn't if I were you," Cody warned, "The food here stinks."

Bailey frowned, but soon sided with Cody after receiving a whiff of her sandwich, "So what do you eat?"

"I always bring food from home. I keep it in my locker so it doesn't get stolen, coz trust me, it would. I make a mean trail mix."

Bailey stifled a laugh, "Trail mix?"

"I might also have an extra chocolaty choc-chip muffin laying around if that interests you," Cody said temptingly as he rose from his seat, "I am known for my frosting."

Trying her absolute hardest to hide the flushed, pink colour that was rapidly filling her cheeks, Bailey grinned shyly and eventually followed suit, "Ok, but I wanted to go check out the marine biology lab before lunch is over, too. I've got a science class in there this afternoon."

"Hey," Cody began happily as the two walked along, "so do I."

"Aw, Cody, that's awesome. And here I was thinking I wouldn't know anyone in the class."

Cody beamed in delight to himself. There was no doubt in his mind that Bailey was a very pretty girl, but more importantly, it was quickly becoming apparent that she also had a breathtaking personality. Her simple knee length dress and open toed sandals in contrast with her irresistible country girl twang definitely made her all the more appealing to Cody, as well.

"Ya know, Cody," Bailey restarted, "I'm still not all that familiar with Boston yet. It'd be great if you could show me around later on this evening, after all of our homework is done, of course?"

Cody gazed up and met the hopeful look in Bailey's eyes and the charming smile that lay across her lips. After considering the suggestion for about half a second, Cody hastily returned the gesture, "It would be my pleasure."

-zcZCzc-

While Cody had his many A.P. classes that he could blissfully indulge himself in, Zack, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. There was, however, one particular lesson that Zack was always able to enjoy, and that was P.E.

"Alright, class," the teacher commenced once everyone had gotten changed, "the floor of the gym is being waxed today so we're going to play some basketball on the outdoor court."

Zack grinned in delightful anticipation as his class split into teams and the game began. If there was one thing that would successfully take his mind off everything revolving around his head lately, it would definitely be playing some b-ball.

The match went along great, and after shooting four baskets in the space of about seven minutes, Zack took a well deserved rest in back play.

"Great job, Zack," his teacher called from the sideline.

Zack beamed proudly to himself. It felt good to receive some praise every once in a while, rather than the usual 'Zack, try to show a little less incompetence' or even the odd 'Mr. Martin, do you mind not sleeping in my class?'

Wiping away the sweat that had broken out over his brow, Zack heaved a worn out breath and watched his classmates where they were participating up at the other end of the court. Everything was looking good, especially as Zack spotted Max barge past a member of the opposing team and score a goal, but in the sudden blink of an eye, Zack felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach as he caught a glimpse of someone watching him from outside of the school.

Beyond the fence that sat no more than twenty metres away from the basketball court Zack's vision widened as it landed upon the image of a person standing amongst the trees. The figure was tall with dark hair, a rugged looking beard and a pair of piercing, dark blue eyes that glared right back at Zack.

"No way…" he spoke silently to himself in disbelief.

"Zack!"

Abruptly being awakened from his trance, Zack's head snapped up just in time to see one of the boys from the opposite team sprint past him and dunk the ball into the hoop. Cursing himself under his breath, Zack directed his sight back to the fence to find that the haunting figure was no longer there.

"Dude," Max spat, running up alongside Zack, "he was yours, wake up."

"Sorry," Zack responded softly.

The teacher blew his whistle signalling for Max to throw the ball in from the end line. Zack watched lazily as another kid in the class caught Max's pass and tore up the other end of the court.

Constantly looking back over his shoulder towards the fence, Zack then slowly ambled over to the sideline.

"Are you ok, Zack?" his teacher asked him in concern.

Zack gawked up and stuttered, pushing his hair out of his face, "Y-Yeah, I'm ok… just a little dizzy, I guess."

"You do look a little pale all of a sudden, do you want to go and get a drink?"

"Yeah, thanks, sir."

Snatching up the given opportunity, though he was still feeling slightly shaken up, Zack made his way towards the bubblers that lined the outside wall of the boys' toilet.

The cool water flowed down his throat in massive gulps until the point where his lungs finally craved the need to take a breath. Zack turned the spout off and closed his eyes in an attempt to calm his heart rate. With the shock from his dire discovery still lingering throughout his thoughts, he turned around and looked back up to the court. Once he was certain that no-one in his class or his teacher were watching him, he ducked around the corner and into the toilet block.

The strong smell of cigarette smoke from the so called 'cool' kids hung in the air as Zack closed the door to one of the end cubicles and slid down to take a seat on the floor against it.

As much as it pained him to do so, Zack then clapped his eyes shut tight again and tried his absolute hardest to recreate the recent memory of what had taken place out on the court. If what he believed to be happening was true, then he needed to be completely and utterly sure of it. But no matter how many different ridiculous or logical explanations he could possibly think of, his mind always trailed back to the same fact. John was back.

-zcZCzc-

Zack couldn't even begin to remember the last time he had been so happy for the school bell to ring and end the day. After quickly changing out of his P.E. gear and shoving it into his bag, he made a hurried bolt to the bus bay and frantically scanned the crowd for Cody. There was no way that Zack was going to let another one of John's secrets go untold - especially not this time around when there was so much more to lose.

"Cody!" Zack called, wide eyed, as he spotted his brother standing beside the gutter with a group of other kids waiting for the bus to arrive.

"Hey, Zack," Cody replied. He frowned, "What's up?"

"Dude," Zack began, catching back his breath and drawing Cody in towards him, "I know this is gonna sound bad, but I really gotta tell you something."

Cody's face twisted into further anxiety at the unexpected sound of uneasy softness that had taken over Zack's voice, "What is it?"

Zack took a deep breath, his vision avoiding the left side of Cody's face, "John's back. I saw him when I was in gym class. He was just outside of the school, looking at me."

Cody's jaw dropped, "Wha -"

"I know, it's sick. I'm guessing he's back cause of Lei's birthday." Cody shook his head in disbelief at Zack's revelation. "What are we gonna do?" Zack asked.

Cody hesitated for a brief moment and then swallowed, "Zack.. are you sure you saw what you think you did?"

Zack's brow wrinkled in confusion, "Of course I am, why?"

"Well, what direction did he walk off in?"

There was a pause, "Um, actually, I didn't exactly see where he went. I kinda just looked up the next minute and he was gone."

Zack waited as he and his twin fell into a further silence before Cody eventually sighed, "Zack, maybe you should re-think this whole John thing."

Zack scoffed, "And why is that?"

"Look, just think about everything for a second. Mum told him that if he came back she'd call the cops, and besides, it's been four years. If he was planning on showing up don't you think he would've done it by now?"

"Well, maybe, but -"

"And think about the dreams, Zack," Cody interjected. Zack halted in a stunned hush. "The nightmares have been worrying you so badly, you might just be letting your imagination run away with you."

Zack shot his brother an offended glare and stared right through him in amazement, "So you don't believe me?"

Cody's expression dropped, "No, it's not that I don't believe you, I just -"

"Don't think that what I'm saying is true?"

Cody shrugged his shoulders, at a loss of what to say, and then forcefully watched through apologetic eyes as Zack turned on his heels and stormed off, "Zack!" Cody called, "Zack, we've gotta go pick up Leila!"

"So I'll walk!" Zack yelled back.

"Zack!"

Needless to say, Cody's last efforts to receive a response from his brother went to no avail and left him alone with nothing but his thoughts, or rather, his _certainties_ that there was no possible way that John could be back.

-zcZCzc-

Leila happily skipped along the footpath, her brothers' hands attached to either one of hers as she blabbered on about one thing or another that she and Aidan had gotten up to at their day at school. Zack and Cody, however, were both simply gazing straight ahead, nodding whenever they felt appropriate, each with a million different thoughts running through their minds.

After Zack had eventually shown up to walk with his siblings to the dental clinic, he had certainly seemed cheerful enough, but was still clearly mulling over the doubt that Cody held over him and his story of John's return.

Cody, on the other hand, kept taking quick glances at his twin in the hope to receive some kind of insight into how he was feeling. So far, he had had absolutely no luck.

"We're here!" Leila announced as she and the twins stopped in front of the dentist's office.

"Are you gonna be ok?" Cody asked his sister.

Leila scoffed in reply, "Yes! Only babies are afraid of the dentist."

Zack chuckled to himself as Leila broke away from her brothers' grip and dashed through the front door to find Carey. Before giving Cody the opportunity to attempt to talk to him, Zack quickly followed.

A reluctant Cody slowly walked around the corner after his brother to find Zack, Carey and Leila all in the waiting room.

"Hey, guys," Carey greeted, "How was school?"

Zack shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, it was alright."

Cody simply nodded in agreement, "Nothing special."

"Alright, well, do you want to go down the road and grab a bit to eat, or something, while I wait here with Leila?" Carey offered.

"That's ok," Zack answered in an instant, "I'm just gonna go straight home."

Cody shot his brother a look of skepticism while Carey merely nodded her head, "Ok, well, we'll see you at home then."

Zack nodded back and gave his sister a quick wink before turning around and heading out of the office.

"I think I'll go with him," Cody swiftly cut in, pursuing Zack out the door.

Zack groaned quietly to himself and hastily quickened his pace once he and Cody were out on the street.

"So, what," Cody began, "you're not going to talk to me at all?"

"Why should I?" Zack retorted, "You're not going to listen to anything I have to say."

The words that left Zack's mouth were cold and harsh as Cody rolled his eyes and tried to keep up with his twin's fast stride.

The entire walk back to the hotel went on in the exact same way. Cody continued desperately to try and get a conversation out of his brother, but Zack wasn't having any of it. By the time they had made it back home, Zack couldn't get upstairs fast enough.

"I don't want to fight with you about this, bro," Cody urged as the roller doors bounded them in the space of the elevator.

"It's not a fight if you just leave me alone," Zack spat in reply.

"I'm not going to leave this alone, Zack. Not if your nightmares are worrying you so much."

Zack jeered cynically, "I can't believe I told you that in confidence and now you're using it against me."

"No!" Cody protested in his defence, "That's not what I'm doing, Zack, I'd never do that!"

The elevator suddenly landed with a 'ding' at the twenty-third floor as Zack zoomed out, ripping the room key out of his pocket, and made his way to the suite.

"I just think that you shouldn't jump to conclusions and let everything get to you so badly," Cody argued, sticking right on Zack's heels as they marched up the hallway.

"No," Zack spoke through gritted teeth in further frustration, "I just should_ never_ have let you in."

Cody halted in his tracks, taken aback for a moment at the ruthless tone that coated his brother's voice. He took a deep breath and then trailed Zack around the final bend towards their suite, trying to hide the cracking emotion in his voice, "Zack, can't we just…"

A combination of almost walking into Zack and emitting a huge gasp suddenly made Cody freeze again, his eyes wide and his jaw very nearly touching the carpet beneath him.

"Boys," John stated plainly, gesturing to his step-sons from where he leant against the door to suite 2330.

Zack gulped and leaned closer to Cody, "Believe me now?"

Cody remained speechless, his only response being a fast rate of uneasy breaths.

"Don't look so disappointed to see me, guys," John commented sarcastically, "Man, you've both grown up so much."

"What are you doing here?" Zack shot accusingly.

"C'mon Zack, it was my little girl's birthday yesterday," John answered through the frantic shock that both Zack and Cody had fallen into as soon as they had laid eyes on him, "She would've started school just last week, right?" He waited hopefully as neither of the boys answered him.

"I just want to see her," their step-father conceited.

Zack barked a disgusted laugh, "Give me one good reason why we should let you?!"

John sighed, "Look guys," he began ashamedly, "I know this is the last thing you're going to want to hear, but I'm a changed man. I've rehabilitated myself, honestly – I don't even remember the last time I had a drink."

"That's funny, 'cause I do," Zack spat in contempt.

Up until then, Cody had been silent. The image of John standing before him was one that no amount of preparation could ever have made him ready to face, and his claims of wanting to see his daughter again and allegedly restoring himself to the man he once was did nothing but add further to the sick feeling in Cody's stomach.

"There's no point in you being here, John," Cody spoke nervously, "Leila doesn't even know who you are."

John's eyes narrowed as he glared Cody down in confusion, before he suddenly stiffened in realisation, "You mean to tell me that my daughter doesn't even know that her father exists?"

Cody gulped and remained quiet for a moment but then reluctantly shook his head. John coughed out a laugh of cynicism as the twins both looked on, awaiting his next actions.

Before either of them had the chance to react, John rapidly leapt forward and snatched the room key out of Zack's hand, unlocked the suite and dove in behind the door. Zack and Cody instantly dashed in after him.

"Where is she?" John demanded after searching his old bedroom.

"Not here," Zack replied.

John groaned at the sarcasm leaking from his former step-son and walked closer towards him, "I can see that, Zackary, I want to know where she's gone."

Zack gazed up at the six foot tall giant ambling above him, but stayed strong and stern-faced, not uttering a single word. John grunted in annoyance, knowing that he was running out of options.

It was then that something caught his eye from across the room. John subtly smiled at the calendar hanging on the fridge in the kitchen, and then pushed past Zack, making his way towards it.

Quickly comprehending what John's newest plan was, Cody made a speedy dart to the suite's phone and took it off the hook as gently as possible.

"Dental appointment," John mused proudly to himself, pointing at the day's date, "Carey always was one for total organisation, right boys?"

As he spun back around expecting an answer from the twins, John frowned in increased anger at the sight of Cody in the process of assumingly trying to call Carey. Seizing the phone from Cody's grip, John hurled it to the other side of the room as the boys cringed at the loud smash that shattered the device into three or four different pieces.

Zack glowered with pure hate in his eyes at John, "I swear to God, if you do anything to hurt her –"

"Hurt her?" John recurred in confusion, "Zack, hurting her is the last thing I'm planning on doing."

John's voice lingered throughout the taunting silence of the suite as he strode over to the coat cupboard next to the front door. Watching wide eyed, Zack and Cody both then felt themselves tense up in apprehension as John revealed Zack's wooden baseball bat from the small space of the closet.

Immediately positioning himself in a spot where he could quicker jump to his brother's defence, Zack abruptly sensed some of his angst-ridden feelings drain while John turned away from the twins with the bat. Instead of coming at them with it, like both the boys had expected, John pulled the front door towards him and firmly gripped the base of it between his feet. With one brutal downward swing of the bat, John then successfully detached the brass doorknob from the beige door of the suite.

The twins jumped from the initial ricochet of the loud contact made by the bat to the doorknob, while John, however, simply grinned at his handy work.

"After all," he then spoke, continuing his previous statement, "I am her father."

_Her father?_ Cody spoke to himself. The two small, simple words revolved around his head over and over until the stage where he felt his blood boil over to an immense point, and the lump of revulsion sitting in his throat was only seconds away from exploding.

"Her father?!" He repeated out loud, "You are a lot of things, John, but you are certainly not Leila's father!"

Zack and John both stared Cody down intently, attempting to scrutinize the new found rage that he had adapted himself to.

"She's already got a dad!" Cody then confessed, "_Our_ dad."

John halted in uncertainty, "What?"

"Yeah, mine and Zack's dad. _Leila's_ dad. He's the one who got to see her off on her first day of school, and give her a kiss on her birthday. He's the one that she calls 'Daddy'!"

Feeling something vile snap inside of him after Cody's revelation, John growled piercingly in fury and then unthinkably stalked towards the younger twin, wielding the baseball bat.

Cody's baby blue eyes watched in pure terror as he braced himself for the impact of what would undoubtedly be a painful strike to the side of his torso or head. The seconds taken for John to reach him seemed to become frozen in time, as Zack swiftly stepped in front of his younger brother, standing tall and defiant to the self-professed re-established beast.

John stopped in his tracks and studied the sight before him. An overwhelming hush enveloped the suite, before without warning, John burst into chuckles of laughter.

"Oh, this is great," he began, "trying to look out for your brother again, Zack? How is the eye, by the way, Cody?"

Cody frowned in repulsion, "How does it look to you?"

John grinned, "It looks like I did a good job. But what do you think, Zack?"

Zack remained silent, concentrating solely on standing at Cody's protection.

"You know what?" John re-iterated, "I'll tell you what you're thinking. You're thinking how easy it was for me to hurt your baby brother so badly last time. You're thinking how things might've been different if you hadn't been so cowardly as to duck out of the way. You're thinking how this, all of this, is your entire fault. And that's all you have been thinking for the past four years, isn't it, Zackie?"

There was no response. While Zack's shoulders were still strongly pushed back and his upper body was standing tall and confident, there had definitely been an obvious shift in his mental state. Obvious to John, anyway.

"That's where you're wrong!" Cody announced, "Zack knows that none of this is down to him, especially not what _you_ did to_ me_. Everything that happened to the family is your fault, not Zack's, and he knows that. Right, Zack?"

A further silence was emitted as Cody's face softened and he glanced worriedly at his brother, "Zack?"

Zack's head was directed at the floor, his eyes covered by the strands of blonde hair that hung down by his face.

"Uh oh," John said, laughing in sarcasm, "Well, as much as I'd love to hang around and see the fallout from this little newly developed secret, I've really got somewhere else to be."

Throwing the bat to the ground, John swiveled around and hastily bolted out the door, "Bye boys."

The door slammed into place behind him as the sound of his footsteps slowly disappeared up the corridor.

Cody's gaze still remained attached to Zack. After all the years that had gone by, and all the terrible things that John had done to their family – after all of that, rather than moving on, Zack had been solidified in limbo, blaming himself.

"The night that it happened," Cody dared to speak, "you weren't crying because the family had broken up. You were crying because you blamed yourself for what he did to me. And you still do?"

Cody waited for a response from his brother in disbelief and almost leapt right out of his skin as Zack's hazy vision eventually cast itself onto his younger twin, "Not now, Cody."

"But, Za-"

"I said _not now_! Don't you think we have some more important things to worry about right now?"

Cody's brow wrinkled for a brief moment until he felt himself being tugged back to the present and the reality that John was still out there and now knew where Leila was.

"Ok, you're right," Cody agreed.

Zack nodded, "Where's your cell phone?"

"It ran out of battery at school today," Cody replied, groaning, "Yours?"

"Lent it to Mum last week when hers broke." Zack slammed his fist down on the table and then made a pointless attempt to force the front door open.

Cody came up behind him, kicking away the stray doorknob in frustration, "So what do we do?"

Zack drove himself away from his endeavours of a break-out and stopped to think for a moment. All of a sudden, the light bulb switching on his brain brightened his eyes, "Remember when we got locked in the closet on the day of the Battle of the Bands?"

Cody smirked, impressed with his twin, and then followed Zack into the closet.

The distance between the air vent and the floor certainly seemed a lot less than what it had when they were twelve, and with the simple added help of one of the dining room chairs, the entry was soon in reach.

"So here's the plan," Zack started, shifted the chair past Cody into the cupboard, "All we have to do is get down the front desk and tell Moesby to ring Mum."

Zack then placed the chair directly under the vent and gestured for Cody to climb aboard, "You go first."

Cody's mouth hung open as he stuttered a reply, "But wh-what if John comes back and he sees you down here, he'll go ballistic, there's no telling –"

"Cody!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going."

Once Cody had safely disappeared into the vicinities of the vent, Zack climbed onto the chair and hoisted himself into the space, too. Pausing for a short minute, Zack gawked at the familiar, silver lined, tin area around him and then spoke softly to himself, "Sorry, Maddie."

-zcZCzc-

The clean, crisp Boston air filled John's lungs and empowered the smile of anticipation that lay boldly across his face. While it was still unknown to everyone where exactly he had disappeared to after selling up his business and leaving town, he still clearly remembered his way around, as the entrance to the local dental clinic soon came into his vision.

He could only imagine how adorable his little girl looked today. John swore that as a baby, Leila had been the most perfect and beautiful thing in his whole world, and of course, he was certain that nothing had changed today.

The enticing thought of having her back in his arms was only metres away as John reached the front of the clinic and placed his foot on the first step.

"Hold it!"

A shiver ran up John's spine as he froze at the voice that boomed from behind him.

"Put your hands where I can see 'em."

At that command, John felt his whole world shatter to pieces as he unwillingly turned around, his hands up by his sides, and came face to face with the police officer behind him.

"Is that him?" the officer then asked, looking to his right. John cursed out loud at the sight of the next person to join the scene.

"Carey," he spat angrily.

"Yes," Carey responded softly to the officer, "that's him."

Carey looked a mess. She was undoubtedly shaken up and her eyes were stained with continuous flowing tears, "What did I tell you, John?" she asked, her voice breaking with each word.

While a police car rolled up behind where Carey stood, the officer led John towards it, reading him his rights, "Where is she?" he demanded, ignoring the police man.

"With Kurt," Carey answered, "He was here in two minutes flat when I told him you had crawled up from the gutter."

John laughed in mockery of his ex-wife, "The joke's on you, Carey. The pigs have got nothing on me! And you really don't want to put your baby boys through the long, terrifying process of a trial, do you?"

"No need," Carey spoke simply. John's brow creased in confusion, "My friend Delilah," Carey continued, "She's a security guard down at the mall and part of my book club. Her husband's a forensic detective. He took photos of every mark, scratch and scar that you left on my babies. That's all the proof that the 'pigs' need."

John's heart sank at the cold words that resounded from Carey's mouth and echoed deep into the cavities of his brain.

She smiled a torturing smile, "Don't worry though, they might go easier on you if you confess."

John glowered in the fury of defeat at Carey and opened his mouth to speak before he was sat in the back of the police car.

"And one more thing, sweetie," Carey began cynically, "Don't ever underestimate my boys."

The door slammed on John as the rumbling engine of the car came to a smooth start and glidingly took off from the curb.

Another officer gestured for Carey to take her place in the passenger seat of the second car, but went completely unnoticed for a few moments.

Carey's eyes were still locked with the evil, empty, deep blue ones that glared at her from the back of the first car, and remained so until they had disappeared around the corner and out of sight. She could only hope that this time, it was for good.

-zcZCzc-

It had unquestionably been a long, distressing, tedious evening.

Carey had only recently returned home from the Boston Police station after going over her story and what she was charging her former husband with over and over again. Fortunately, the police were keeping him over night, but only time would tell what would become on John's fate in the very near future.

Now Carey rested distraught and exhausted on the suite lounge with her arm around Cody and her hand sandwiched between Zack's and his knee.

Once the boys had successfully made it to the basement through the vent system, they had bolted up to Mr. Moesby in the lobby and recounted everything that had happened. While Moesby may have been hesitant to believe another one of their crazy stories, the pure fright and anxiousness that poured from the boys instantly made him pick up the phone and call Carey.

And now between the three of them, there was silence.

As the clock in the suite just came on the verge of quarter past six, multiple sets of footsteps were heard from beyond the front door, and in the next instant it was swung wide open to reveal Leila, Kurt and Aidan.

Carey and the twins both lunged forward in their seat, a look of relief evenly spread across all of their faces.

"Hey, guys," Kurt spoke as convincingly happily as he could, "Leila insisted that we bring her little friend Aidan up to play for a bit, is that ok?"

Carey nodded, beaming, "Yeah, it's fine."

Kurt smiled and then turned to face his sons, "How are you guys?" he asked subtly, trying his absolute hardest not to race over and collect them in a warm hug.

The boys both forced a smile, "We're good," Zack replied.

"We had so much fun Mummy! Dad took me bowling and then out to the Cluck Bucket for dinner. Now me and Aidan are gonna go to my room and watch JONAS," Leila suddenly cut in, once again twirling the chain of her locket between her fingers. She turned to her brothers, "But don't worry, we won't it have it loud."

Cody laughed, "You can have it as loud as you like," he said, pulling Leila into a tight hug, "Can't she, Zack?"

"You bet," Zack answered, "But only if I get a hug, too."

Leila smiled at the invite from Zack and then instantly accepted, jumping into his grip. Cody looked on happily at the content expression on Zack's face – an emotion that he, too, had been immediately overwhelmed with once Leila was in his arms. It was the most incredible feeling of relief to know they had been able to protect their family even though John had come so close to hurting them all over again. And what's more, Leila still had no idea how much of a monster her real father truly was.

"Alright guys, I'm gonna get going," Kurt announced.

Leila broke away from Zack and looked up at Kurt, "Ok, Daddy."

Kurt grinned and blew Leila a kiss before directing his attention back to the twins, "I'll ring you tomorrow, ok boys?"

Zack and Cody both nodded in reply as Carey stood up from the lounge, "I'm just going to talk to your dad out in the hallway for minute," she spoke while Kurt lead her out.

Looking back at the last minute, Kurt shot the boys an encouraging look of pride, "Love you, guys."

"Love you, too," they countered in unison.

The boys held the gaze with their dad for a few more contented moments before he and Carey slipped out the front door and into the corridor.

Once they had, Leila and Aidan then disappeared into her room, too, leaving Zack and Cody alone in the lounge room in stillness.

Cody gawked at Zack where he sat with his head hung down and his vision aimed at the carpet beneath his feet. There were a thousand different thoughts going through the younger twin's mind, and about a million different things he wanted to say to his brother without knowing where to start.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," he eventually spoke softly.

Zack hesitated for a couple of seconds before simply shrugging his shoulders, "It's ok. I haven't exactly been the most believable person in the past."

"But I still should've trusted you," Cody argued in Zack's defense. "You really blame yourself for what happened to me?"

An additional hush developed as Cody waited for an answer from his twin, "Zack?"

Zack's mind was revolving as he finally looked up to meet Cody's gaze, "I ducked out of the way," he said, sounding disappointed in himself.

"That doesn't make it your fault."

"I let it hit you!"

"But it _didn't_ hit me!" Cody retorted, trying not to attract Leila's attention from the next room, "A shard of glass from the mirror is what cut me – you know that. That bottle was flying right at your head! Do you have any idea how _happy_ I am that you ducked out of the way?"

Zack paused for an instant, "Really?"

"Yes!" Cody exclaimed, "If a scar on the side of my face is what I have to live with in order to save you from anything worse that might've happened, then I'd do it all over again. Nobody blames you, Zack, especially not me. I never have, and I never will."

Zack remained speechless. After all the sleepless nights he had endured thinking about what had happened to his brother that fateful evening, he had no idea what there possibly was to say now he knew for sure that Cody didn't hold him responsible for anything.

Just then, a loud vibrating was heard reverberating from the kitchen bench. Cody looked up and walked into the next room, taking his phone out of its charger and flipping it open.

"What's that?" Zack asked, feeling slightly comforted at getting to change the subject.

Cody sighed and text a quick reply before snapping his phone shut, "A text from Bailey."

"Bailey?" Zack inquired, "Oh, you mean that cute, new girl I saw you talking to at lunch today?"

Cody faintly blushed at the image of Bailey that flashed through his mind, "Yeah, she wants me to show her around town this evening. Go for a bite to eat or something."

"Cool, so when are you going?"

Cody stuttered for a split second and then collapsed back on the lounge next to his brother, "Er, I'm not."

Zack's eyes widened, "What do you mean you're not?"

"I just told Bailey sorry but I want to stay in tonight," Cody answered plainly, "My family needs me."

Zack's jaw dropped in stunned shock at the sacrifice that Cody made. Beaming at his brother in admiration, Zack then draped an arm over his twin's shoulders, finally sure of what to say, "Thanks, Cody."

Cody frowned, "For what?"

"For letting me let you in. I can always count on you."

"Well, thank _you_," Cody echoed, "for everything. I had no idea what a hard job it was being an older brother."

"Yeah," Zack agreed, "it's a pretty lousy job."

Cody stifled a quiet laugh as Zack jokingly shoved him out of his grip, laughing too, "But I think we're both doing ok, right?"

Without a single second of delay, Cody licked his lips and opened his mouth to speak, when he unexpectedly felt his phone go off again in his lap. Sneaking a subtle look down at his screen, he grinned at what was written before him -

_Aw, that's ok, I totally understand. Family comes first :) Cya tomorrow, Bailey x._

"Definitely," Cody said directing his attention back to Zack, "we're doing just fine."

-zcZCzc-

Leila stared at the upside-down image of an unhappy looking Aidan as the theme song to the Jonas Brothers' television show played in the background. Flipping over onto her stomach she gazed down from her bed at her friend who sat in her purple bean bag chair.

"I thought you liked this show?" she asked, gaining Aidan's awareness.

"I do," he said, trying to sound interested, "I'm just… thinking."

"'Bout what?"

Aidan stayed quiet for an instant, then sighed, "I saw my grandad before. I haven't seen him in a while."

"Is he ok?"

"I dunno," Aidan confirmed, worriedly, "he was different."

Leila felt her heart fill with concern as she slipped off the bed and positioned herself on the floor herself next to Aidan.

"What do you think is gonna happen?" he inquired nervously.

Leila thought to herself for a moment but eventually shrugged her shoulders sadly, "I don't know."

Aidan turned his eyes away from Leila and fixed them on the screen as the show started. The youngest Martin heaved a breath, annoyed that she didn't have a supportive answer for friend and began playing with her locket again.

"What's the deal with the necklace anyways?" Aidan asked, catching Leila fiddling with it from the corner of his eye.

"Zack and Cody gave it to me," she replied, "It has our picture inside."

"Why?"

Leila paused and looked down at the locket that sat in between her fingers, smiling, "I guess it's just a promise that they'll always be here for me."

Looking back at her, Aidan forced a faint smirk, "Lucky."

The expression instantly fell from Leila's face. Aidan didn't have any siblings, or many other friends, and Leila certainly couldn't imagine her life without her brothers. She felt so sorry for him.

"Well, how bout this?" she began, sounding a lot more perky, "No matter what happens, we'll always be best friends. Promise?"

Aidan gawked at Leila's pinky finger that she was projecting towards him. He thought for a minute and then looked up to meet eye contact with her.

While the two of them may have only known each other for a day or so, there was a certain sparkle in Leila's eyes and a twinge of trust buzzing between them that Aidan both couldn't refuse and answered the proposal for him.

Wrapping his pinky around Leila's and squeezing tight, Aidan grinned back at her, "Promise."

* * *

**Woooooo!! Another bit done :) It seemed to stretch on forever LOL. Soo... what did we think? Love, hate?**

**And, ok, I am a TOTAL sucker for Cody/Bailey so I hope you liked the way I managed to incorporate her into the story :)**

**I hope we all liked the new characters, especially Aidan, as well.**

**I think that's all I wanted to mention here, just one more part to go now! Yays. Also, I'll keep the preview to this chapter up for a little longer so there's no problem with multiple reviews for one chapter like last time. I have disabled my anonymous reviewer thingo now, too, so you could always sign out and review that way if you wanted to, of course. Feel free to give me any feedback or criticism or just a plain ol review - they do make me smile :) Thanks guys, and to everyone who reviewed my last chapter as well. Until next time!**

**Reneyyyyyyyyyyy x.**


	4. Part Three

'Cause maybe someday  
We'll figure all this out  
We'll put an end to all our doubt  
Try to find a way to just feel better now and  
Maybe someday we'll live our lives out loud  
We'll be better off somehow  
Someday.'  
**_Someday - Rob Thomas._**

* * *

**Part Three - Learning the Hard Way.**

**April, 2015  
Friday -**

"Leila?"

A long, agitated groan emitted from the lounge as Leila lifted her head out of her pillow. She lazily pushed her straight, blonde hair out of her face and forced open her deep, blue eyes.

"Mum," she replied croakily, "not so loud. Headache, remember?"

Carey stood in the doorway to her bedroom, phone in hand, and gazed down at her daughter, "Sorry, sweetie, I thought you'd crashed out in your room." Carey then walked over to the lounge and handed the phone to Leila, "It's Elise."

Leila groaned again and raised herself up into a sitting position, pressing the phone against her ear, "Hey, Elle... Yeah, I wasn't feeling well this morning so Mum said I could stay home. Did I miss anything at school?... Yeah, Mum made a house call so I'll be back on Monday."

All of sudden, a noise beyond the other side of the door caused Leila to shoot her head up.

"Nah, it's ok, Elle," she answered the voice in her ear as the door began to open, "I know the doctor. Ok, laters."

The second that Leila had hung up the phone and placed it on the coffee table in front of the lounge, she instantly felt a smile creep across her face at the sight of the person who entered the suite.

"Hey, Cody."

"It's Doctor Martin," Cody answered jokingly, closing the front door once he had entered, "What's up, kiddo?"

"My stomach's sore. And I've got a headache."

"That sucks," Cody sympathised as he took a seat beside his sister, "let's see what we can do, hey?"

Leila shrugged her many blankets aside while Cody opened up his brief case, "Is your throat sore, too?"

Leila shook her head, "Just my stomach."

"Well, I'm just going to check if there's any gross congestion stuff caught up in your chest, ok?"

"Ok," Leila agreed.

Much like most twelve year olds, Leila hated being sick. Absolutely hated it. Although, if there was one thing that made the whole torturing experience that little bit less tormenting, it was the fact that she always had priority with one of Boston's best young doctors – also known as her big brother.

"So what have you been up to?" she asked casually between deep breaths.

"Not a lot," Cody said as he continued to reposition his stethoscope all around Leila's chest. He flicked his head to the side, brushing his lengthy blonde hair out of his eyes, "Bailey and I finally finished moving everything into the new apartment. It's much more roomier than our old one. Where's Mum?"

"In her room," Leila answered.

Since both Zack and Cody had moved out of the high-rise Tipton suite, Leila had shifted into her brother's old room leaving Carey with the second, smaller room all to herself.

After tying the knot with his high school sweetheart, Cody hadn't wasted anytime finding he and Bailey a place of their own, while Zack, on the other hand, lived nearby, too, and shared an apartment with Maddie. Strictly as friends, though, much to the older twin's disappointment.

Leila took one final breath, shivering at the cold sensation of the metal against her skin.

"When did you start feeling sick?" Cody asked, putting his stethoscope away.

"It came on last night. It wasn't that bad, though. Then I just woke up this morning feeling really crappy."

Cody nodded and quickly ran a couple of more standard procedure tests on his sister. After a short moment of quiet, Cody chewed on the end of his pen and then casually turned back to Leila, "Do you have your period yet?"

Leila's jaw dropped in unexpected shock, "Cody!"

"What?" he argued, "Most girls generally get a little crampy during, or before, their menstrual cycle. I am your doctor, Leila. And your brother."

Leila looked down into her lap and sighed, "Not yet."

Cody rubbed his sister's shoulder, "It's nothing to be ashamed of. Some girls don't get theirs until they're fourteen or fifteen. You've got plenty of time."

Softly nodding her head, Leila gazed back up, "So what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing from what I can see – it's just a bad stomach ache."

"Typical Mum, she worries way too much."

"Tell me about it," Cody consented as he snapped his case shut, "So I'm guessing you didn't go to the wrestling with Zack last night?"

Leila frowned, "Didn't he tell you? He didn't end up going either. Something came up at work, so he sold out tickets to one of his friends."

"Something came up at work?" Cody repeated, "He works for our dad, couldn't he get out of it?"

It had been a long while since Kurt had been on the road with his band. Soon after Leila started her third year and Marsden Elementary School, the hard core, alternate rockers had mutually decided to call it quits. Since then, Kurt had successfully broken away and formed his own record label – _Minority Records_ - based in Boston, which he now owned and managed with Zack as his right hand man.

Leila shrugged at Cody's question, "So Zack really didn't tell you?"

Cody remained silent for a brief second, "I haven't spoken to Zack in a couple of weeks now, actually."

Leila raised her brow in disbelief, "You live less than ten minutes away from your twin brother and you haven't spoken to him in a couple of weeks?"

Leila awaited an answer from Cody, when finally, he simply shook his head, "We've both been really busy."

"That's no excuse."

Cody stopped for a moment and shared a glance with his sister, "Leila. I'm twenty-three, a full time doctor and a husband. I don't have time for everything anymore."

Defeatedly watching her brother gather all of his belongings, Leila sighed again and snatched the T.V. remote up from the coffee table in front of her.

"Yeah," she grunted, "or every_one_."

Dejected, Cody picked up his briefcase and pushed some hair out of his face, only to be met with the feeling of raised flesh as he let his fingers trace the outline of the scar that sat in place on the left side of his face. Maybe it was time that he gave Zack a call.

"Cody!"

The younger twin snapped out of his trance and looked up at Carey, smiling, "Hey Mum." He raised an eyebrow at the large, brown box Carey was carrying out of her room, "Whatcha' got there?"

"Oh, just some old boxes full of old stuff."

Cody laughed, "Sounds old. Give it here."

"Thanks, sweetie," Carey said with a smile while Cody took the box and placed it in the lounge room, "There's a few that are starting to collect a bit too much dust under my bed, so I figured I may as well go through them when I get the chance. So, is everything ok with Leila?"

"Yes, Mum," Cody replied assuredly, "She's fine. Just a bad stomach ache. Might almost be 'that time' for her."

"Cody!" Leila growled from her place on the lounge.

Cody and Carey shot each other a cheeky smirk, "Sorry, kiddo," he spoke gingerly, "Anyway, Mum, just make sure she gets plenty of rest and fluids. Anything that may generally stop basic indigestion. And then hopefully, she'll be perfectly fine for school next week."

"Ok," Leila snapped, "you can go now." She gazed up at her brother and stuck her tongue out jokingly at him before going back to flicking through the television channels.

"Thanks for coming, sweetie," Carey said.

"No problem," Cody began as he headed towards the front door of his old home, "Just give me a call if she doesn't get any better."

Cody then twisted the brass doorknob to the suite and turned to leave, when he found himself coming to a halt and glancing downward, "Hey, Aidan."

The brown haired boy looked up at Cody and smiled, "Did you know I was about to knock on the door or something?"

Cody chuckled to himself and patted his sister's long time friend on the shoulder, "Yeah. I'm just that good. Cya' later little man. Bye guys!" he called back into the suite.

Once Leila and Carey had given their unison goodbye to Cody, Aidan closed the front door behind him and walked into the suite.

"Hey, Lei. Hi, Carey."

"Hey Aidan," Carey greeted cheerfully, "What's that you've got?" she then asked, gesturing to the stacks of paper tucked under Aidan's arm.

"Homework for Leila. Pretty much all of our teachers asked me to give it to her so she wouldn't fall behind."

"Thanks," Leila started cynically, "You shouldn't have. Really."

"C'mon, missy, you're not in Elementary school anymore," Carey scolded, "Your brothers warned you that the work load would increase once you hit the seventh grade."

"Yeah," Aidan agreed, "But I don't know what's worse - the amount of work we get, or the fact that most of the teachers still don't know which of your brothers you're going to act more like."

"Our first day was pretty funny, wasn't it? 'Ah, Miss. Martin, let's hope you'll be just as much as a pleasure as your brother, Cody, was,'" Leila said, putting on her best impression of their principal.

"'What about her other brother?'" Aidan said, joining in with the re-enactment of their first day of year seven.

"'We prefer to leave out all mention of Zack Martin. Many of our teachers still haven't yet recovered from his time at our school.'"

The two then burst into laughter, though it wasn't long before Leila began groaning at the pains in her stomach.

"Ok, come on," Carey said through subtle giggles, "You'd better get a start on that homework."

Leila's expression dropped, "Now?"

"I've gotta' go home and get it done, too," Aidan consented, "Mum said so."

"Can't I just do it this weekend?" Leila asked, turning her attention back to Carey.

"No, because you'll just keep putting it off and then end up doing it in a rush at one o'clock, or thereabouts, early Monday morning."

Leila sighed in a huff.

"Well, how about this?" Carey recommenced, "If you do it now, then Aidan can come over tonight and sit with you while I'm doing my show. I'm sure Andrea won't mind watching the both of you. As long as you stay out of trouble."

Andrea was the Tipton's new candy counter girl. She was a sophomore at Cheevers High, and not only that, but was also Leila's babysitter. While Leila had been growing up, her babysitter had regularly switched between Maddie and her brothers, but for the past couple of years when they had all become a lot more busy in their own lives, Andrea had kindly stepped in and taken over, just as Maddie had when the twins were Leila's age.

"Ok, fine," Leila granted reluctantly.

"That's my girl," Carey praised with a smile. She then turned her awareness to Aidan, "Do you want a ride back home, hon?"

"That's ok, thanks. I'll just walk." He looked back at Leila and waved, "Feel better dude, I'll see ya' later tonight."

"Bye, man."

It had only been about a month after Aidan and his parents had moved into the Tipton when his granddad passed away. He didn't understand very much at the time, but as he got older he learnt more about it.

Natalie's father had fought and won a long battle with cancer many years beforehand, but the disease had reappeared in his liver later on and got the better of him.

It had without a doubt been a hard time for his family to go through, and while Leila didn't really remember much of it, being so many years ago, she knew that it had certainly brought her and Aidan a lot closer together. Even when he, Natalie and his dad, Mick, moved out of the hotel and into their new house, the two had managed to remain best friends and have ever since. It definitely made Leila feel happy to know that she had a friend who would always be there for her as much as she had been for Aidan around the time of his granddad's death.

"Alright," Carey spoke, "There's a couple more boxes in my room I wanna' bring out, then I suppose I should start getting ready for my show."

"Late one tonight?" Leila asked, slowing lifting herself into a sitting position on the lounge.

"Hopefully not." Carey looked at her watch, "Andrea should be here in about an hour, so get to work, ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Leila muttered, a bad habit she had picked up from her brothers.

Carey froze in her place for moment and beamed at the likeness between Leila and the twins, then forced herself away and back behind the door of her bedroom.

Emitting an annoyed sigh, Leila leaned forward on the lounge, reaching for her pencil case. As she did, her gold, shell shaped locket fell out from under her pyjama top. She smiled.

The locket certainly wasn't as perfect as it had been when Zack and Cody first gave it to her on her fifth birthday. It had lost most of its shine, the chain had been replaced about two or three times and the colour of the picture inside had faded slightly, but even so, Leila had never taken it off.

Clutching it tightly for a moment in her hand, Leila then tucked it back beneath her shirt and returned to busying herself with the mountain of homework laid out before her. She had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

-xXx-

The warm Spring sun beat down on Zack's head where he sat, restlessly drumming his fingers on the table in front of him. His half eaten café style hamburger had been pushed aside in disproval, and instead he sat there numbly sucking air through the straw of his empty Coke bottle. Then for about the tenth time that afternoon, he sadly sighed to himself.

"Zack?"

Snapping out of his trance, Zack shot his head up to meet the identical features that gazed back towards him.

"Hey, Codester."

Cody grinned faintly to himself. It had been a while since he'd heard that name.

"What are you doing walking the streets all suited up?"

Cody switched his brief case to his other hand, "Mum wanted me over to give Leila a bit of a check-up. Figured I could do with the walk."

Zack's expression dropped, "Is Lei ok?"

"Oh, yeah, fine. Just a stomach ache that Mum blew out of proportion."

Zack let a slight snigger escape his lips, "Typical."

"Yeah," Cody agreed. The two then fell into a mused quiet. Zack shoved the plastic straw back in his mouth and began chewing on it. Cody watched him do so, feeling kind of weird being stuck in such a strange, silent moment with his twin. Maybe Leila made a good point.

"So what else has been going on?" Cody opted.

Zack's vision remained locked on the table, "Nothing."

Cody felt a twinge of concern pierce his mind, "Something's wrong."

"What are you talking about?" Zack retorted, still not looking up.

"Come on, bro," Cody argued, taking a seat, "I know it's been a while, but I can still tell when something's bothering you."

Zack looked up blankly and faced off with his twin. There was no real use, though. Zack knew that Cody could read right through him, and he hated that. Eventually, he released yet another sigh and slouched back in his chair.

"Last night," he started, "when I was supposed to take Leila to 'Superstars' -"

"Yeah, she told me," Cody cut in, "Dad had more work for you, or something?"

"Yeah. Anyway, I got back earlier than what I would have if Lei and I had gone out, and, well…"

Cody waited for Zack to go on. When he saw his older brother rub his hands back through his hair, he began to grow more anxious, "Zack?"

"It's stupid, really. I'm worrying you over nothing. So stupid…"

"Well it's obviously upsetting you, so it can't be that stupid."

"But it is," Zack protested, "I didn't tell Maddie that I was at work and not out with Lei, so she thought I was going to be heaps late home." Zack paused for a second, "She brought this guy over."

Cody cringed, "Ouch."

"They were in her room when I got back… you don't wanna' know, man."

Shooting his brother a sympathetic look, Cody lightly punched Zack's arm, "I'm sorry, Zack."

Zack shrugged his shoulders, "What can 'ya do?"

"Have you spoken to her since?"

The older twin shook his head, "Nope. I left early this morning and haven't been home all day. She doesn't even know that I know."

"But don't you two usually go for drinks on Friday nights?"

Zack let out a bark of laughter, "So I guess I just won't go. Pathetic, right?"

"No," Cody instantly replied, "I don't think so. You've been in love with her for, like, what? Eleven years? And she knows that. Plus, she should've thought about what she was doing. What if you had gone out and went back with Leila or something?"

"I guess you're right," Zack said.

"Of course I'm right. I'm the smart one, remember?"

Cody beamed to himself as he noticed what looked to be a genuine smile creep across Zack's face.

"Whatever you say," he responded sarcastically, "Anyway, moving on, how's Bailey and the new place and stuff?"

"Bailey's great. She's gotten more shifts at the restaurant in between going to college. I think she kind of regrets not starting as early as I did, but it still seems to be going ok for her. Leila's just excited that by the time she gets to High school, Bailey could be her science teacher."

"And give her no homework?"

Cody laughed, "I think that's the plan, but I'm not so sure Bailey would go along with it."

The twins both shook their heads. Leila was smart - really smart actually, which, of course, she had picked up from Cody. Somewhere along the line she just also happened to pick up Zack's laziness.

"Oh, man, I gotta' get back to work, brosef," Zack said, looking at his watch.

"Ok," Cody replied, standing up from his seat, "Tell Dad I said hi."

"Will do."

Cody watched as Zack picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He wished his older brother could stay longer. It felt good to have a proper catch up with him, though, the five or so minutes that had past seemed to go by in a flash.

"I'll give ya' a ring sometime, man. Maybe we could take Leila to a ball game, or something."

"Sounds good," Zack consented, still grinning, "Cya' later, bro."

The older twin then held out his closed fist to his brother and the two pounded knuckles.

"Cya', Zack."

-xXx-

"Ok," Carey said, pacing across the suite to grab her bag from the table, "spaghetti's on the stove ready to be cooked, contact numbers are on the fridge and in a super emergency –"

"You'll be singing right downstairs," Andrea finished, "I've got it, Carey."

Carey smiled at the younger girl.

Andrea's short, red hair sat neatly just above her shoulders. Her fringe was pushed out of her sparkling green eyes by a cute, black bow which perfectly matched her plaid, knee-length, black and gray shorts and black singlet top.

"Thanks, Andrea. Now, kids?"

Leila and Aidan both looked up from the lounge at the sound of Carey's voice, "Behave yourself and do what Andrea says, alright?"

"Don't we always?"

"Don't answer that," Aidan interjected before Andrea had the chance to contradict Leila's innocence.

Carey and Andrea rolled their eyes at each other and smiled, "Well just make sure you do," Carey spoke as a final warning, "Love you, Leila."

"Love you, too."

"Have fun."

Leila shared a final grin with her mum before Carey disappeared behind the front door and her stiletto heels went click-clacking up the corridor.

"So, when do you guys want dinner put on?" Andrea asked kindly.

"We're alright for now," Leila replied.

"Yeah," Aidan agreed, "We're just finishing off our last bit of homework."

"Ugh, tell me about it. I actually brought something over to finish for English class tomorrow. Is it ok if I use your laptop again?"

Leila looked up at Andrea and nodded her head, "Yeah, go ahead, it's in my room."

"Thanks. Just let me know when you guys get hungry."

"'Kay," the kids answered in unison as Andrea closed Leila's bedroom door behind her.

Trying to refocus back on her work, Leila shoved the tip of her pencil in between her teeth and gazed down at her book. All the words on the page before her all seemed to merge into a blurry mess as she stifled a sickly yawn, gaining Aidan's attention.

"Tired?"

Leila shot her friend a sour look in response to his pointless question, "Just a little," she mumbled. She then took her pencil out of her mouth and threw it on the table in front of her, "I was helping Mum move some more boxes of old stuff out of her room before. It didn't exactly help the fact that I was already sick and exhausted."

"What's in them, anyway?" Aidan asked, shifting his vision to the cardboard boxes that lined the side wall of the suite.

Leila shrugged her shoulders, "Beats me. Open 'em up and find out."

"Your mum won't mind?"

"Nah, she was gonna' sort through them later, anyway," Leila replied. She got up from the lounge and dragged one of the boxes over to where she and Aidan were seated, then, in one fierce movement, ripped back the brown coloured duct tape and pulled open the flaps of the box.

Peering inside, Leila and Aidan were met with piles upon piles of neatly stacked photo albums, papers and other various books.

"Whoa," Aidan commented, "I can see why Carey wanted to sort through it all, look how much you guys have kept over the years."

"You're telling me," Leila agreed, pulling out a few sheets of paper from the box, "Oh, wow, our birth certificates."

Aidan raised an eyebrow and took the top two sheets from Leila's pile, "They don't look very official."

Leila glanced over his shoulder, "That's because they're photo copies. Mum lost Zack and Cody's originals ages ago." Rummaging through the rest of the stack, Leila grinned and held out another sheet of paper, "I'm the only one with an original."

Beaming in self-pride, Leila's eyes scanned over the laminated sheet of paper before her, laughing slightly at her baby picture, when suddenly, something pushed its way into her line of vision and caused her expression to drop.

Furrowing her brow in confusion, Leila regained her breath and slowly shook her head, "Aidan?" she began timidly, "What's my last name, again?"

Aidan rolled his eyes, not looking up from the photo album he was flicking through, "Is this like the time in fourth grade when you told the school nurse that you forgot how old you were so you weren't sure if you were the right age to get that injection? Then you suggested that they give your dose to Cassie Williams instead?"

"Hey, needles freak me out – blame Zack for that!" she protested, "And, no, this is serious!"

Looking up at the splintering tone in Leila's voice, Aidan took the birth certificate from her shaky hand and began reading over it. In no less than ten seconds, he was wearing the same expression as her, "Leila Elizabeth Mackenzie?"

Leila nodded her head, "I don't get it. And look at the signature where Dad's should be."

"Jonathan Mackenzie," Aidan read aloud.

Forcing back a chunk of tears, Leila nodded again as she and Aidan fell into a dumbfounded silence. The twelve year old girl pushed her long, blonde hair out of her face and cupped her mouth in her hand – a million different thoughts running through her mind.

"What do you think it means?" she eventually asked.

Aidan shook his head, "Who says it means anything?"

Leila's eyes drooped at her friend's optimistic tone, "Mum's last name on it is Mackenzie, too. It's gotta' mean something," she spoke numbly.

"So, ask her –"

"Ask her what?" Leila sharply interjected, "Why our last name was different when I was born? Who this Jonathan guy is? Whether or not he's my…"

Her voice trailed off with a sweep of nerves. Aidan sighed, feeling helpless.

Swallowing hard, Leila stared intently at the words typed in front of her, "What if my dad isn't really my dad?"

"What does it matter anyway?" Aidan shot back instantly, "You've got a great family!"

"It matters to me! I think I'd like to know who my real father is and why on Earth my so called 'great' family lied to me for twelve and a half years!"

"Hey!" Andrea called out, poking her head around Leila's bedroom door. The kids' necks snapped up at the abrupt addition of the third voice, "Are you two ok?"

"Yes," Leila said in immediate response, "We're fine, we'll be quiet."

Andrea squinted in trivial doubt, but vanished back behind the door anyway, getting back to her homework.

Leila groaned and turned her attention back to Aidan and the bombshell at hand. A look of dejection was clearly spread across her best friend's face.

"Sorry," she offered softly.

Aidan gazed up and locked onto the devastated twinge in Leila's eyes, "We'll find out more about this guy," he said, gesturing towards her birth certificate, "I promise."

-xXx-

**Saturday -**

Leila restlessly gazed up at the ceiling where she lay in her bed. The name 'Jonathan Mackenzie' kept circling her mind, refusing to leave her alone.

She didn't look anything like Kurt, though, then again, that was just because she was the splitting image of Carey. But Zack and Cody had features from both their parents – why didn't she?

She shook her head. '_Keep thinking positive_', Aidan had told her, '_Chances are you've got nothing to worry about.'_

As far as Leila was concerned, if there was nothing to worry about, why hadn't Carey or Kurt tried to explain it to her sooner?

"Leila?"

Breaking out of her daze, Leila glanced over to Zack's old bed at the other side of the room and tried to locate Aidan's figure in the darkness, "Yeah?"

"I think your mum's gone to bed. I can't hear her anymore."

Leila blinked and allowed her eyes to adjust to the bright light of her laptop screen as Aidan opened it. Sighing to herself, Leila climbed out of Cody's old bed and made her way over to the opposite side of her bedroom, taking a seat beside Aidan.

"Ok," he whispered, typing away, "Jonathan Mackenzie." He hit the 'enter' key on the internet search engine and waited as numerous different hits exploded onto the screen.

Leila may have book smart, but Aidan was a whiz with computers. In no time at all, after reducing the search to the local area in the past fifteen years, they found the link they believed to be looking for.

A web page for one of Boston's well known newspapers loaded across the screen as Jonathan's picture materialized in a box sitting in the top left hand corner.

As soon as the picture was clear, Leila felt her heart skip a beat and the sight of the man on the screen.

Aidan sensed his friend tense up and shot her a sideways glance, "You ok?"

Leila frowned and shook her head, "Yeah, fine. Just… felt a little weird all of a sudden."

The amount of worry that Aidan felt growing inside of him for Leila was increasing with each second that went by, but sadly, he didn't feel like there was much he could do. Only help her find the answers she was looking for.

"Well, it says that he was the former manager of a paper based here in Boston, but he sold up in 2005 and disappeared."

"We were only, like, two back then," Leila pointed out, "Anything else?"

Aidan skimmed the writing on the page and scrolled through some more articles before shaking his head in disappointment, "Nothing that'd be of much help. If it's even the right guy."

Leila stifled a quiet sigh, "Maybe we should call the newspaper tomorrow."

"And say what?"

"Maybe they have a contact number for him. You never know."

"You'd really wanna' talk to him?"

Leila hesitated for moment, but decided to brush the question off, "If we ring the paper, they might have some more information for us. It's worth a shot," she argued, typing the number into her mobile phone.

"Yeah, but, Lei –"

"Look, I'm getting really tired, ok, Aidan? It's, like, one-thirty in the morning."

Aidan groaned in defeat. Leila's stubbornness was unbearable sometimes. Generally, when she had made up her mind, there was no-one who could change it for her.

"Thanks for doing this," she then spoke, walking back to her own bed, "Couldn't have without 'ya."

"Don't mention it," Aidan replied quietly, shutting off the computer, "Goodnight, Lei."

"'Night."

As soon as the light of the laptop faded off, Leila pulled her blankets up over her head and stared at the phone number for the newspaper company that glowed back at her from her phone. Taking a deep breath she saved it and shut her phone, twirling the chain of her locket between her fingers and finally allowed sleep to take over her, erasing all memories of the past few hours. For now.

-xXx-

The slop on the end of Zack's spoon slowly slid down as he watched it land back in his bowl with a 'splat'. He was leaning into the bench of his and Maddie's small kitchen in their even smaller apartment, forcing himself to eat some breakfast for once.

Lying awake in his bed at around four o'clock that morning, he had finally heard Maddie sneak back through the door after the usual Friday night out with their friends. He couldn't help but ask himself if she had wondered where he had been.

"Morning, Zack."

Zack glanced up in a daze at the sound of Maddie's cheerful voice ricocheting from her bedroom. Her long blonde hair was done up high in a ponytail, giving full view of her low-cut, pink shirt accompanied by a pair of denim blue skinny jeans.

"Hey, sweet thang."

Maddie smiled at touched her roommate's shoulder as she made her way to the fridge. That nickname never really did grow old.

"So where did you get to last night?"

"Work," Zack answered simply, surprised that she had even noticed his absence.

"Oh," Maddie said, unsure of the older twin's answer. Turning back around with a box of cereal in one hand and a carton of milk in the other, she tilted her head in confusion, "Are you just eating bologna out of that bowl?"

Zack looked at his meal then glanced back up at Maddie, "Yep. Mum made it by accident when we were kids once, but it kinda' grew on me."

Maddie cringed slightly as Zack shoved a whole spoon full in his mouth, "Ok, well, are you doing anything today?"

"No," he responded through half chewed bologna.

"Well, do you wanna' do me a massive favour?" she sang sweetly.

Zack's eyes narrowed, "What is it?"

"Nothing much, I just need someone to pick up my dry cleaning for me, please."

"Isn't that place, like, two minutes down the road?"

"Actually," Maddie began, "I go to the other place. On the other side of town."

"What? How come?"

"'Cause they do a better job," she argued, "Please, Zack? London's got me swamped at work today, I don't think I can find some time to get away. It won't take you that long."

Zack hesitated as he wiped some bologna from the side of his mouth and smeared it on his shirt.

While Mr. Moesby was still – somehow – the manager of the Tipton, London, on the other hand, had taken up a job as the hotel's event co-ordinator. She was doing a pretty good job, too, but still required the help of a second creative mind, which is exactly where Maddie came in. The two of them were undoubtedly a very successful team.

"Please?" Maddie urged, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Fine, ok, I'll do it."

Maddie beamed and wrapped an arm around Zack, "Thanks, Zack, you're the best."

"I know," he consented with a smile.

"And, hey," Maddie added as Zack began to make his way out the door, "We should go out somewhere this weekend to make up for last night."

"Probably won't be able to. I ran into Cody yesterday. We were thinking of taking Leila out to see the Sox play this weekend."

"Oh, well, that'll be fun," Maddie said, "You'll just have to let me know what night you'll be out."

"Why?" Zack grunted, shoving his wallet in his pocket, "So you can sneak in another –"

The older twin froze in his place and sharply bit his tongue. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he saw Maddie's expression drop.

"Another what, Zack?" she sniped worriedly.

Zack sighed, forcing back the impulse to kick himself, "Another surprise visitor?" he opted lamely.

Maddie immediately shot her vision down to the floor in embarrassment, "I thought you were –"

"Out?" Zack finished, "No. Dad held me back at work. I guess it's a good thing though – would've been pretty awkward if I had brought Lei back with me."

"Zack, I'm –"

"Look, don't worry about it, ok?" Zack cut in heatedly. He opened up the front door and then stepped into the corridor, "I'll pick up your laundry this afternoon."

Maddie flinched as the front door slammed back into place. Dumping her food items on the table in front of her, she groaned angrily at herself and scraped her fingers back through her hair.

Shaking off the conversation, Maddie grabbed a bowl from the cupboard and started making herself some breakfast. Reaching over to take a clean spoon out of the sink, she caught a glimpse of Zack's half finished meal. She scrunched her brow and paused for a brief second. Then, as bravely as she could, she picked up a spoonful of the brown coloured goop and tenderly placed it in her mouth. Without any delay, she instantly spat the bologna back into the bowl and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand in disgust.

"Ugh," she mumbled, "Only Zack could find that appetizing."

-xXx-

Aidan groaned in exhaustion, trying to keep up with Leila's quick pace as she tore up the street with the address they had been given tightly held in her hand.

Just as she had suggested early that morning while the two had been huddled around her laptop screen, as soon as she awoke a few hours later, Leila had immediately called the newspaper company that Jonathan Mackenzie had once owned. She had told the man on the other line that her brother was an associate of John's, and he in return gave her an address that John had once owned, since he no longer worked at the company. In a way, Leila was sort of surprised that they had given out Jonathan's information so easily, but she certainly wasn't going to question them otherwise. Now she and Aidan were on their way across town in search of the address that they had been instructed to go to.

They rounded one final corner and then came to the end of the block, stopping in front of a huge apartment building. Of course, it was no way near the size of the Tipton, but compared to all the other buildings around it, the complex definitely stood out.

Leila took a deep breath and gazed up at the building, and for some strange reason, couldn't bring herself to look away.

"You ok?"

The sound of Aidan's voice caused Leila to shoot him a quick glance, though she soon turned back to the apartment block, "Yeah. I think so. This place just seems kind of… familiar."

"Mhm, sure it does," Aidan said doubtfully, "Look, just don't get your hopes up, ok, Lei? You'll only get disappointed."

Leila frowned and heaved another sigh, "Let's go."

Taking the hint that his advice was being ignored, Aidan shook his head and swiftly followed Leila through the great double doors of the entrance.

The scaling ride up the building in the glass elevator seemed to stretch on forever. As soon it landed at the correct floor, Leila bolted between the parting doors and began on her way up the corridor, looking at every gold, numbered door plate that she past. She sensed Aidan arrive next to her where she eventually stopped and they both gazed up at the door before them.

"Are you sure about this?" Aidan asked.

Leila hesitated for a moment and glanced at Aidan out of the corner of her eye. She knew how much he longed for the chance to tell her that he was right and she was wrong and that there had never been anything to worry about. But there was also something that told her this mystery would definitely not solve itself.

In a rapid burst of confidence, Leila drummed on the front door three times and then waited, her heart beating hard in her chest, as she and Aidan heard someone moving inside.

After what was surely only a few seconds, but seemed like an eternity, the front door to the apartment finally opened and revealed the space inside, as well as an elderly woman standing in the doorway. The woman took her glasses out of her gray mess of hair and adjusted them on her face to find the two kids standing before her in the hallway.

"Yes? How may I help you, kids?"

"Um, yeah," Leila began, "Hi. We're looking for Jonathan Mackenzie?"

The woman furrowed her brow in confusion, "I'm sorry, John hasn't lived her for a long while now. What did you need to see him for?"

Leila froze for second, trying to think of an excuse, when suddenly, a light bulb switched on in her head, "My cousin and I," she announced, draping an arm over Aidan's shoulder, "we're new here and got lost walking around town. John's one of the only people who we knew before coming here. We didn't know he didn't live here anymore."

"Oh, you poor dears," the woman cooed, opening her front door wider, "I'm sure I can sort something out for you. Please, come in."

Leila and Aidan exchanged a nervous glance, but followed the woman into her home all the same.

"What did you say your names were?"

"Didn't," Aidan answered, "I'm Aidan and this is Leila."

"Margaret," the lady replied, smiling, "You know, it's funny," she recommenced, inviting Leila and Aidan to take a seat on the lounge, "John hasn't lived in this apartment for years. What made you think he still did?"

"Well, he also used to own this place, didn't he?" Aidan jumped in, remembering what the man at the newspaper company had told Leila, "We just thought he might've been still hanging around, or whatever."

Margaret nodded, "Yes, although, he sold it to me many years ago now, too."

"How long ago?" Leila asked conversationally.

Folding her arms across her chest, Margaret cycled her mind back all those years, "John moved out of here and into the Tipton hotel in January of 2005."

Leila felt her heart stop in her chest. Her hand impulsively crept up to her neck and grabbed a hold of her locket as she felt Aidan subtly giving her arm a gentle squeeze.

"That's also the year he sold his business and sold the apartment to me," Margaret went on.

"So, he lives in the Tipton?" Aidan asked, keeping the discussion flowing.

Margaret's frown deepened as she narrowed her eyes at the kids, "How long has it been since you or your family have seen or spoken to John, exactly?"

Leila swallowed, finally finding her voice, "A wh-while now, not since we were little. Why do you ask?"

Seeming to waver for a short moment, Margaret licked her lips and tilted her glasses, "John only lived in the Tipton for a day or two, as far as I know. He was arrested and sent to jail the very same week."

Leila's hand fell from her locket as her jaw dropped, "Jail?"

"What for?" Aidan asked, just as shocked.

Margaret shook her head, "I'm not sure. No-one really is. The whole thing was kept very hush-hush, but, then again, John was always quite reserved about his personal life. Anything to do with he or his family was kept exactly that – personal. The only thing I ever got out of him was that he was married and had recently had a baby."

Gasping quietly to herself, Leila did some quick maths in her head and reattached her hand to her locket. In January of 2005, Leila figured that she would've been sixteen months old, and, for arguments sake, that certainly could be considered pretty 'recent'.

Aidan squeezed his best friend's arm tighter as he felt her calm act was clearly starting to burst at the seams, "Can we please use your phone now? We don't want out parents getting too worried about us."

"Oh, of course," Margaret said, grinning at Aidan, "I'll just go get it."

The second that she was gone, Leila turned on Aidan, "Phone? Phone who?! Nobody can know we're here!" she sniped in a hushed whisper.

"We're lost, remember?" he replied, just as quiet, "That's what we told her. Just pretend to ring Carey and then we'll leave."

Leila huffed in defeat but eventually nodded in agreement. As soon as Margaret brought out the phone and handed it to her, Leila pretended to dial in a number and then began her phoney conversation with Carey.

"Hey, Mum… yeah, yeah, we're fine. We came to Jonathan's… yeah, did you know he doesn't even live here anymore?… Ok, well, we'll wait out the front for you… Ok… Love you, too. Bye."

Sighing again, Leila pressed the 'end' button and gave the phone back to Margaret, "Thanks."

"No problem," Margaret said, "Come on, then. You'd better get downstairs to meet your folks."

Margaret continued to smile pleasantly while she watched Leila and Aidan take a few steps up the hallway after saying goodbye, when gradually, she shook her head again and chuckled slightly to herself, "And kids?"

Leila and Aidan both turned back on impulse at the sound of Margaret's voice.

"I'm not sure who you really are or how you know John, but I hope I answered all your questions for you."

The kids shot each other a worried look, and then turned their awareness back to the apartment only to find that Margaret was no longer there.

Leila remained frozen in place for a second or two, allowing all the new information they had just received the course its way through her brain until she then spun back around towards the elevator and ducked inside with Aidan hot on her heels.

The ride back down to the ground floor was totally silent, as were the first few steps they took outside the complex. Aidan glanced up at Leila and could almost see the wheels in her mind turning.

"We weren't horrible actors, were we?" he asked, trying to break the ice.

Leila groaned, "Don't you think we have a bigger problem on our hands?" she snapped, "Margaret said that John moved into the Tipton in January of '05. So did I. She also said that around that time he had recently had a baby, and I was just over a year old!"

Aidan directed his vision to the ground as everything began rotating through his mind, too.

"You seriously can't say that you don't everything is ok now," Leila urged, "We've got to get to the bottom of this."

"Leila?"

The kids instantly snapped their necks up, wide-eyed and surprised to see Zack sitting in his car by the side of the road.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked, trying to sound stern, before directing his attention to his sister, "I thought you were sick."

Leila shrugged, "I felt better."

"Well, that's not what Cody told me," Zack countered, reaching over and opening his passenger seat door, "Get in."

As Leila did so, and Aidan got in the back seat, Zack restarted his engine and flicked on his left blinker, driving in a U-turn across the double white lines in the middle of the street to get onto the other side of the road.

"That was illegal," Leila pointed out smartly.

Zack rolled his eyes, "I have to come back this way. Maddie wants me to pick up her dry cleaning for her. Besides, don't you tell me about doing the wrong thing, do you how much Mum would freak out if she knew you were all the way out here?"

"It was an accident," Leila argued, "You know what we're like when we get talking."

"Yeah," Aidan agreed, "We didn't realise how far we had been walking."

Zack looked in his rear vision mirror at Aidan then focused his eyes back on the road, "Yeah, well, if I were either one of you two, I'd just make sure that Mum doesn't find out."

Down-shifting into first gear, Zack then pulled his car to a gentle stop at an intersection that sat at the end of the block. It was then that he suddenly realised where exactly they were.

The old apartment block hadn't changed much in the past ten years. That part was kind of nice, but as Zack caught sight of his old window towards the top of the building, he was grimly reminded of all the horrible aspects of the block, and the many memories caught up between its walls. He'd do anything to erase all those awful images and recollections from his system. But, on a more urgent note, what had Leila and Aidan been doing so far away from the Tipton, he asked himself, and here of all places?

"Zack? It's green."

Snapping out of his daze, Zack looked at Leila, then back at the lights to see the cars in front of him beginning to move along. Slowly accelerating back up to the required speed, he quickly glanced back at the building then returned to driving.

Leila raised a suspicious eyebrow at her brother and turned around to investigate what he had been stuck in a daydream about. When her eyes landed on John's old apartment building, she heaved another small gasp.

Taking her necklace back in her hands, something rapidly clicked in Leila's head. Zack and Cody knew about Jonathan, too.

Peering down at the beloved locket in her hands and envisioning the picture treasured inside of it, Leila coldly let it fall against her chest, forcing a sudden chesty cough.

Zack smirked at her teasingly, "Told 'ya you were sick."

Bringing her coughing fit to an end, Leila shot Zack a subtle glare, shooting daggers at him, "What do you care?" she spoke to herself softly.

-xXx-

As soon as Zack's car pulled up back at the Tipton, Leila shot out of the passenger seat door, slamming it behind her, and made a hurried entry into the hotel.

Zack raised a confused eyebrow, but soon shook it off, hauled Maddie's dry cleaning up over his shoulder and then closed and locked his door.

"Thanks, Zack," Aidan said, "I'll go catch up with Leila."

"No problem, buddy. Cya' later."

With that said, Zack then watched Aidan's attempts to catch up with Leila as he, too, walked through the front door of the hotel.

Giving Norman - the ageing doorman - a friendly nod, as always, Zack began scanning the lobby to see if Maddie was anywhere downstairs.

Similarly to the elder twin's other former home on the other side of Boston, the Tipton was pretty much the same as it had always been inside and out. But, then again, that may have certainly been because of how extremely anal Mr. Moesby was about every single tiny detail of his hotel.

"Argh, not again!"

Zack looked down one of the two lobby ramps to the centre of the room, only to find Mr. Moesby carefully readjusting the position of the gold plated vase that sat in the middle of the table. He smirked in amusement, "What's up now, Mr. M.?"

Moesby glanced up at Zack and growled at his sarcasm, "Ever since you and your brother moved out, I thought I would once again be able to trust the open display of a vase in the lobby, but it seems your sister has other ideas!"

"And what makes you think Leila is responsible for this?" Zack asked, brow furrowed as he walked over to where the irate hotel manager stood.

"I caught her and Aidan just two days ago racing around my lobby like it was a sprint car circuit! It took Esteban's quick reactions to catch the vase, again, before it shattered to pieces."

"Was this before or after you broke the first one during Mr. Tipton's visit of '07?"

Moesby shot daggers at Zack, ignoring the comment, "Thankfully, since Leila's been a little under the weather, she seems to have been behaving herself."

Zack rolled his eyes, "You'd think so wouldn't 'ya?" he spoke quietly under his breath.

"Anyway," Moesby went on, leading Zack to the front desk, "To what do I owe this visit?"

"Are Maddie or London working down here today?"

Moesby nodded, not taking his eyes off of the papers on his desk, "They're both over at the candy counter talking to Andrea."

"Thanks, Mr. M.," Zack replied, slinging Maddie's bag of clothes back over his shoulder, "Take it easy."

As he left, Zack heard Moesby sigh to himself in displeasure at the desired thought of 'taking it easy'. He stifled a quiet chuckle to himself, and then made his way over to the opposite side of the lobby where the candy counter stood.

Just as Moesby had said, Zack spotted London and Andrea talking to one another, and what could be vaguely made out as Maddie standing behind London. Although, as Zack found himself getting closer, he suddenly stopped in his tracks as he realised the three girls weren't alone.

Andrea caught sight of the frozen figure of Zack in the centre of the lobby as she awkwardly bit her lip, motioning to London. Following suit, London nervously tapped Maddie's shoulder, causing her to turn around and completely reveal the buff, brunette man attached to her arm.

Zack groaned, knowing he couldn't leave now that he had been noticed, and slowly made the rest of his trip over to where everyone stood in a quiet group.

"Zack..." Maddie began, "This is Trent. My… uh, boyfriend."

Zack gritted his teeth at the label given to Maddie's companion. London and Alyssa watched on unsure of what the twin's reaction would be. More so London than the younger girl, however, as Maddie had informed her best friend on what Zack had walked in on when he had returned home two nights ago.

Biting his tongue and swallowing back every ounce of pride that consumed him, Zack stuck out his hand and gestured for Trent to shake, "Zack," he stated simply.

"I know," Trent countered, "Maddie's told me a lot about you. And your brother, as well, didn't she used to baby sit you or something?"

Clamping down harder on his urge to spit some sort of sniping comment, Zack merely nodded in conformation, "Yeah, she did, but now we live together. I'm the one who looks out for her, instead of the other way around, now, you know?"

Zack felt his lips upturn in a smile at the obvious twinge of jealousy that sparked in Trent's sea green eyes.

"But since you're her boyfriend," Zack recommenced smartly, "I'm sure you wouldn't mind carrying this for her."

Taking the heavy bag of laundry off his shoulder, Zack then rammed it hard into Trent's chest, the older man barely managing to stop it falling to the wooden ground. Zack grinned in delight.

"Well then, I'll just go put this in the car then, babe," Trent said, turning his attention to Maddie, "It was nice meeting you Andrea, London." He paused and glared at the older twin, "Zack."

The taunting grin stayed cemented on Zack's face, "You, too."

It wasn't long before Zack felt the smug expression fall from his face as Trent placed a long, tender kiss against Maddie's lips. Zack frowned angrily and balled his fists in his pockets.

"Bye, Trent," London and Andrea sang in unison once Trent had decided to separate himself from Maddie and leave.

Maddie immediately sent Zack an apologetic look, "Zack, can I –"

"Don't worry about paying me back for picking that up for you," Zack sniped, cutting in, "I'm thinking about taking on some extra shifts with Dad anyway."

Maddie raised a confused eyebrow, "Since when?"

"Since now."

The four then fell into an abrupt silence – London and Andrea gawking uneasily at each other.

"I'll see you guys later," Zack suddenly spoke, quickly turning on his heels and removing himself from the uncomfortable situation.

Maddie sighed in self-frustration, "That _so _did not go well."

"No, no," London cooed, trying to comfort her friend. Maddie shot her an oblivious look. "Well, ok, yeah, that was totally, completely horrible."

Maddie rolled her eyes.

"What's the big deal, anyway?" Andrea asked, "I mean, I know Zack's been in love with you since, like, forever, but it's not like Trent's ever done anything to him, right?"

London and Maddie exchanged a knowing glance.

"Well, even so," London swiftly resumed, making the save, "Zack still shouldn't have been so rude. I like Trent."

"You like him 'cause Maddie likes him," Andrea said, "And because he's good looking."

London's jaw dropped, "I resent that! Maddie is my right-hand woman and my best friend, I would never do something like that to her!"

Maddie shook her head, "So, you found out he wasn't rich?"

"Mm, pretty much," London complied with a ditzy nod of her head.

Andrea rolled her eyes and went back to flipping through her magazine while Maddie sighed to herself again, "I'm just gonna' have to talk to Zack about it."

"About your new boyfriend?" Moesby jumped in as he was walking by.

"Yeah," Maddie replied, glancing up at the manager, "Do you think I should?"

The three girls all watched and waited as Moesby pondered his answer. While he may have always been slightly disconcerted by the Martin twins through all stages of their childhood and young adult life, Moesby still certainly knew a good thing or two about them, and considering this, he turned back to Maddie and gave her the only bit of advice he could think of,

"Good luck with that."

-xXx-

Aidan stopped in front of the door to suite 2330 and caught it seconds before it would have surely hit him in the face by the force of Leila slamming it behind her.

"What's wrong now?" he asked, walking into the room after her.

After checking Carey's bedroom to make sure she wasn't home, Leila came stomping back out and collapsed on the lounge in a pile of fury, "Zack and Cody totally know about Jonathan, too!"

Aidan frowned, "Nah, you don't think –"

"Think what? That my brothers would lie to me for twelve years? Well, my parents have, so there's not much stopping Zack and Cody, either."

Aidan fell into a stunned silence at Leila's accusations.

"Seriously, Aidan," she urged, "Zack and Cody were almost eleven when I was born. I think they'd notice and remember if there was a different man hanging around who wasn't their dad."

"Yeah, but you still don't know for sure if this guy is even anybody to you, anyway."

"You heard everything that Margaret told us," Leila spat, leaping off the lounge, "How much more proof do you need?"

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway," Aidan argued, "He's in jail now. There's nothing else you can find out."

Leila frowned, "Maybe he's out. It was, like, seven years ago."

"So what exactly are you planning to do?"

"Whatever it takes to find out for sure."

"Can't you just drop it?"

Leila scoffed, "Drop it?! My dad may not really be my dad, and you want me to just drop it?"

Aidan sighed, directing his vision to floor at Leila's slight outburst. The youngest Martin found herself heaving a heavy breath, too, as she walked over to her best friend and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Look, I'm sorry, ok? I know you're only trying to help," Aidan looked back up at his friend, "But I'm really scared."

"I know," Aidan answered instantly, "But you can't let yourself get obsessed, or anything, no matter how badly you want to know."

Leila remained silent, refusing to look at Aidan. He stifled another quiet groan to himself and then shot a quick glance at his watch, "Hey, look, it's almost one. Mum said I had to be home for lunch. I can see if I can sleep over again, if you want."

"Whatever," Leila mumbled.

Shrugging himself from Leila's grip, and trying to consume his increasing feelings of concern, Aidan made his slow approach to the door, "Just don't do anything till I get back, ok?"

Met with nothing but a further silence, Aidan quietly crept out the door, shutting it behind him.

As soon as he had left, Leila grabbed her laptop up from beside the couch and turned it on. She sat crossed-legged on the lounge while she waited for it to load, resisting the desire to cling onto her locket. A million more thoughts were running through her mind. As much as she didn't want to believe the fact that this man on her birth certificate may in fact be her real father, she couldn't bring herself to ignore it.

Once her desktop had finally loaded, Leila immediately opened an internet browser. But that's where she stopped. She gawked blankly at the search engine on her homepage, not knowing what to possibly type. Partly, of course, because she didn't know what else there was to investigate, but also because, like she had told Aidan, she was scared about what could be revealed to her.

-xXx-

"Ok, man," Cody spoke into the phone, "Alright, I'll talk to you soon… Just try not to worry, I'm sure it's nothing… Ok, you, too. Bye."

Cody raised his brow in shock as he hung up the phone and placed it back on the hook.

"Something wrong, sweetie?"

The younger twin glanced up in the direction of his new kitchen where his beautiful Southern Belle was cooking dinner.

"That was Zack," he replied uneasily.

Bailey frowned, "Is everything ok?"

"I'm not sure. He said that he picked up Leila and Aidan from the other side of town today. They had been out walking and were hanging around the old apartment block."

Bailey almost dropped the spoon into the bolognaise mince she was stirring, "You mean –"

"Yeah. The place we lived in with John when Leila was a baby."

Bailey continued to prepare their food in silence for a moment, "You don't think she knows anything, do you?"

"I don't know," Cody answered, shrugging his shoulder, "I don't see how she possibly could."

Ever since Cody and Bailey had become totally devoted and serious with one another back in high school, he had completely come clean about everything – about John, about Kurt standing in as Leila's father and about how he had really got his scar.

Their first date had been perfect. After the two had finally shared their long awaited first kiss, Cody took Bailey to a Hannah Montana concert at the Fleet Centre. And since Cody had minor connections with Hannah from when she had stayed at the Tipton before in 2006, when she had arrived to stay for a second time, he had also managed to get each of them a backstage pass. Ever since he had given his girlfriend the opportunity to meet her idol, Bailey had fallen in complete and utter love with him, which led them into everything that followed, right up to where they sat now in their brand new apartment.

"I'm sure everything will be fine," Bailey soothed as she turned the stove down to a low heat and came over to sit in Cody's lap on the lounge, "I mean, he's in jail, baby."

"I know," Cody said, twisting his fingers through Bailey's long, blonde hair, "I know, but the thought of him coming back and getting his hands on her just scares me to death."

Bailey felt her heart unstitch at the seams at the sound of pure terror that overwhelmed Cody's voice. She tilted his head up and slowly traced her finger down the scar that lined his face. Her touch sent tingles down Cody's spine and he felt the rest of his body tense up and the images that flashed through his mind.

"Ya' know," Bailey went on, "chicks dig scars."

Cody smiled and forced a laugh until he suddenly scrunched his brow and looked up.

"What's wrong?" Bailey asked.

"Nothing," Cody said, shaking his head, "I just could swear that I've heard somebody else say that before. Maybe I've read it somewhere…"

Bailey grinned and placed a gentle kiss on Cody's lips, "Well, whoever wrote it must be a total genius."

Cody smirked back and pulled Bailey in for another kiss, a longer, more passionate kiss that intensified the close body heat already rising between them.

"If you're not feeling good about all this John stuff," Bailey said between kisses, "I could always make you feel better."

Cody sensed his aroused feelings grow at the thought of the idea as he lifted Bailey from the lounge, continuing to explore the extreme familiarity of his wife's body, "The food will burn, like last night. And last week."

Bailey deepened the kiss as all the memories of previous lust filled nights came back to her mind.

"And the week before," Cody prolonged, carrying both he and Bailey to the bedroom, "And all the nights in between."

Bailey bit her lip as she felt Cody lift up her dress, "So let it burn. We have a smoke alarm."

The two laughed again before diving back in for another fiery kiss while Bailey weaved in between stacks of unpacked cardboard boxes and cheekily kicked the door closed behind them.

-xXx-

Maddie's head immediately snapped up at the sound of the front door being jostled open, followed by the clanging of a set of keys landing against the wooden table in the hall. She placed her book down on the lounge and got up, sticking her head around the corner to see Zack making his long awaited return home.

She glanced up at the clock on the wall and sighed, "Where have you been?"

Zack followed the resonance of Maddie's voice into the lounge room and simply shrugged his shoulders, "Out."

"Zack?" Maddie urged sternly.

"I was just down at the bar for an hour."

"And you drove?"

"I only had one drink!"

Cringing at the slight volume of Zack's voice, she gazed him up and down, soon realising he was telling the truth. She could always tell when he had had more than the one odd beer, "Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," Zack countered, rubbing his forehead, "I didn't mean to yell or anything."

Maddie nodded her head slowly as Zack joined her on the lounge. Her mind kept cycling back to the look on his face from their confrontation that morning, as well as the same expression that had reappeared upon his meeting with Trent that afternoon at the Tipton.

"And I'm sorry about Trent, too," Maddie went on, "That really wasn't fair on you."

Again, Zack brushed off the thought. "Forget it. Really. You can date who you wanna' date."

Feeling a rush of relief sweep over her, Maddie let a confident smile cross her lips, "Well, if you're up for it, I was actually thinking about cooking dinner for the three of us tomorrow night. So you can get to know him better."

Zack frowned, unimpressed, "Can't." He stood up suddenly and walked off in the direction of his bedroom.

"Why not?" Maddie called after him, tracing his steps out of the room.

"Busy."

"Zack?"

"What?"

The two faced off, almost nose to nose, wearing matching expressions of clear, growing annoyance.

Maddie licked her lips, "If you have a problem with him, why can't you just talk to me about it?"

"What makes you think I have a problem with him?" Zack defied innocently, "You've only been dating him for, like, what? A week or two?"

Maddie froze at the question that viciously flared from Zack's lips. Noticing her sudden lack of eye contact, Zack raised a suspicious eyebrow, "Maddie? It has only been a week or two, right?"

Maddie gulped slightly and licked her lips, still refusing to lock sight with Zack, "More like a couple of months."

Zack's jaw dropped, "A couple of months?!"

"See, you do have a problem with it!" Maddie countered.

"What would ever make you think that?" Zack challenged sarcastically, "The fact that you've been lying to me about him, or the fact that I almost walked right in on you too bang-"

"Zack!"

The older twin felt the sting of Maddie's rapid angry shriek, "He was acting so smug and obnoxious today, and you know it! He's not good enough for you. I just don't trust him, ok?"

"You don't know him!"

"Yeah, but I know his type!"

Maddie stood there, dumbstruck, while Zack changed his course and marched off into the kitchen in search of something to eat.

"You just told me thirty seconds ago that I could date whoever I wanted to date, and besides, he can't be as bad as the type of girls that you bring home every other night of the week!"

Zack slammed the fridge door shut in instant offense, causing Maddie to jump in surprise, "At least I never had the audacity to bring a girl back when I knew you would be home! I always made sure that you would be out all night!"

"Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter since they were all either one night stands or a short, pointless relationship!"

"And you wanna' know why, Maddie?!" Zack yelled, the harshness of his voice increasing with every word he spat, "Because none of those girls could ever possibly compare to you!"

As the last of Zack's echoes reverberated throughout the silent room, Maddie gazed down guiltily at her feet, only just understanding the extent of what she had said to the older twin.

Zack, on the other hand, scoffed and tried to force the heated feelings of embarrassment to drain from his face, as he re-directed his path back to his room and smashed the door into place behind him.

Sitting on his bed with his head in his hands, he resisted the urge to punch a hole in wall and took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. It was what Cody had always told him to do. 'Find your centre' and all that other crap. Zack just never would've guessed how much it would actually work for him, though, especially throughout the many arguments he had with Maddie about one relationship disagreement or another. Something told him, however, with all the other deep concerns about Leila and John circling his mind, it was going to take a little more than sitting cross-legged on the floor to make him keep his cool.

-xXx-

Leila jumped slightly as she felt the vibration from her phone crawl up her leg. Pulling it out her pocket, she glanced quickly at Aidan's name on the screen and then flipped it open, reading the text message;

_Sorry, can't stay the night. Cya' tomorrow, dude._

Snapping her phone shut again, Leila buried it back down into the depths of her pocket and sighed. It wouldn't really have mattered whether Aidan could have slept over or not, anyway. Because at that exact moment, Leila wasn't even at home.

After Aidan had left her sitting in the suite by herself, Leila had managed to come up with a website to look up. That particular website being one that contained the bus timetable for her area of Boston.

It had been a fairly simple task. As soon as Carey had left to do her show in the ballroom, Leila hastily rang Andrea and told her that Carey had come down with something and wasn't going to work, so there was no need for her to come over and baby sit. Now, after hopping off a bus, she was walking up the road in the exact same place she and Aidan had been that afternoon on the other side of Boston on her way back to Margaret's apartment, the ever brightening sunset disappearing over the tall city skyscrapers.

Standing before the huge apartment block, Leila inhaled a second deep breath, forced out yet another chesty cough and tucked her locket under her shirt before walking back through the familiar doors.

Once she arrived at Margaret's door, she knocked softly two times, avoiding any hesitation, and waited nervously. Though, as anxious as she may have been feeling, Leila knew deep down that there was no other way around getting to the bottom of this whole Jonathan situation once and for all.

When Margaret opened the door and saw the blonde twelve year old standing in the hallway once again, she frowned in confusion, "Welcome back, Leila."

Leila simply nodded her head, "Do you mind if I come in and talk to you?"

Margaret smiled knowingly and held the door open further, "Of course not. Come in."

Sinking into the warmth of the apartment, Leila unzipped the thin jacket she had brought out with her on the chilly Spring night and took a seat on the lounge.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Margaret asked suspiciously.

Leila swallowed and took a second or two to gather her thoughts, "It's about Jonathan," she started uneasily, "I think… I think he's my dad."

Margaret's eyes widened in surprise, "And whatever would make you think that?"

"His name is on my birth certificate. I saw it for the first time yesterday and kinda' tracked him down to here. That's the real reason I showed up this afternoon," Leila confessed, "I just needed to know for sure, and after all the stuff you told Aidan and me this afternoon… it's sort of made it make a little more sense."

"How so?" Margaret asked, eyebrow raised.

"Well," Leila began, "Me and my family moved into the Tipton the same time that you said Jonathan did –"

"Wait," Margaret interrupted, "if you want to know anything about him, the first thing should be that no-one ever called him Jonathan. He preferred John."

"Right. _John_," Leila repeated, "also had just had a baby, right? Well, I was just over a year old at that time, too. Plus, if anything else, why would his name be on my birth certificate if he wasn't really my dad?"

Margaret nodded, slowly comprehending everything the young girl was telling her, "So, why do you think it is that your family haven't told you about him?"

Leila froze and, for the first time all evening, started second guessing herself, "I don't know." She scrunched her brow in deep thought, "I already have a dad. The same dad as my brothers. Maybe it's because he was arrested, I just don't know. Are you sure you don't know the reason why he went to jail?"

Margaret shook her head somberly, "I'm afraid not, darling."

Leila sighed again, "Well, do you have anything that could help me find him?"

"You know, Leila, chances are that John may still be in jail."

"But what if he's not?" Leila protested. She glimpsed down at the face of her watch, "Look, I'm sorry for barging in on you like this, but I've only got, like, five minutes until my bus back home comes by. Don't you have anything else to tell me?"

Margaret's mind began cycling in a deep train of thought as she studied the determined look on Leila's face and listened to the pressing tone in her voice.

"There may be something," she finally spoke, standing up and walking over to her book shelf. She selected the small, pink address book that sat at the end of the shelf and walked back to Leila. "A phone number," she went on, "John's phone number."

Leila's heart sped up in excitement, "Seriously?"

"Yes," Margaret confirmed, ripping out a bit of paper and handing it to Leila, "But, just keep in mind that this was the number he gave me years ago. It's almost certain to have changed by now."

Leila's eyes locked with the small piece of white paper that she held between her fingers, "It's worth a shot. Thank you, Margaret."

"As long as you know what you could possibly be getting yourself into."

The severe warning caught Leila off guard for a brief second as she allowed it to course through her body, "What do you mean?"

"Well, to me, it just seems like you have some really great, loving folks. So what if it may not be the picture perfect family that they wanted you to have? Anything they've done in your past was surely just for your benefit."

Much to her own surprise, Leila actually found herself considering this thought. It was one that she hadn't dared come up with throughout her whole escapade. The only emotions she could find herself concentrating on were betrayal and sadness. Maybe she hadn't looked into things far enough.

"Come on, then," Margaret urged, snapping Leila from her trance, "You're going to miss your bus otherwise."

"Right," Leila agreed, heading towards the door, "Thanks again."

Margaret winked pleasantly, "You take care, dear."

Leila nodded one final dose of appreciation, and then began on her way back out of the apartment complex and up the block to the bus stop.

_Not bad for a totally powerless twelve year old on her own in the middle of Boston late in the evening_, she thought proudly to herself as she clambered onto the city bus, the piece of paper with the phone number still tightly attached to her hand.

Among this thought, however, Leila couldn't help but replay what Margaret had said to her over and over again in her mind. Whether she was willing to admit it or not, her life with Kurt as her father had been a great one. One could only imagine how big a spanner would be thrown into the works if a revelation like this were to be revealed.

Finally arriving back at the hotel, at around eight o'clock, Leila stepped off the bus and stealthily made her way into the elevator back up towards suite 2330. Her head was spinning ever so slightly from the reappearance of a small, sickly headache, but no matter what she decided to do with John's phone number, she knew the trip across town had been worth it.

She slipped the room key into the slit in the door and then opened it a crack. When a beam of light became visible beyond the door, Leila felt her heart stop.

_I could've sworn I turned the lights out when I left…_

Taking in a panicked breath, Leila fiercely pushed the door open and allowed her eyes to scan the suite's lounge room. Much to her horror, she was met with the worst possible scenario.

"Dad?"

Kurt flicked his head around at the sound of his daughter's voice, meeting her vision with furious eyes, "Where the heck have you been?!"

Leila gulped, trying to force the cogs in her mind to spin at a faster rate, "I was just walking around the hotel, Dad. I was down in the lobby."

"Oh, yeah?" Kurt challenged, "Then where's Andrea?"

Closing the door gently behind her, Leila sensed Kurt's enraged persona pierce right through her body. "I don't –"

"You don't know?" Kurt cut in, "I think you do know, young lady!"

"How'd you get in here, anyway?" Leila enquired, desperate to change the subject, even in the least.

Kurt slammed his room key down on the table by the kitchen, "I have a key, too, remember? In case of emergencies? Kind of like the one I thought I was just in. I've been up here for ten minutes trying to decide whether to call Aidan, the boys, your mother or the police!"

Leila cringed at the screeching tone being emitted by her dad. It was the first time in ages that she had even seen Kurt, and the fact that he was yelling at her didn't exactly do their time together in the same room justice.

"I'm sorry."

"You can't be that sorry," Kurt countered, "'Cause you still haven't told me where you were!"

Leila rapidly shoved the phone number into her jeans' pocket, along with her phone, "I was just at …" she paused, knowing Kurt may have already got into contact with Aidan, "Elise's house."

"Don't lie to me, Leila!"

Her sight shot down the floor beneath her as Kurt's voice echoed against the walls of the suite. Leila couldn't recall a single moment where he had even spoken to her like this.

"You are so in trouble," Kurt scolded, "Out of the suite by yourself? When you're sick?! When your mum hears about this –"

"Oh, what do you care, anyway?!" Leila suddenly spat, much to her own surprise.

Kurt's eyes narrowed, "What did you say?"

As the sentence repeated itself in Leila's mind, she frowned while she felt her subconscious exaggerate on the thought, "You're never around, anyway. Sure, you call every night, or whatever, but when was the last time you were actually here?!"

"That's exactly why I thought I'd come around and surprise you, but instead, I was met with an empty suite!" Kurt sniped, clearly on the verge of a further outburst. He walked closer towards Leila, causing her to extremely withdraw her stature from the argument, "Now, tell me where you were!"

Kurt waited angrily as he was met with nothing but silence, "Leila?!"

At that last heated cry from her father, Leila suddenly felt a twinge of resentment break free inside of her, "Just leave me alone!" she screamed, pushing Kurt out of the way and speeding off like lightning into her room.

Once the door had been slammed into place, and she was sure that Kurt wasn't going to barge in, Leila finally permitted the warm, flowing tears to slide down her cheeks into her lap.

She had never gotten into an argument like that with Kurt before. Never. And quite similarly, he hadn't ever raised his voice like that to her before, either.

Leila stretched her back up against the door, taking in a deep breath where she sat, legs spread, on the floor of her room. It was times like these where she would easily find comfort in holding onto her locket or opening it up and looking at the picture inside, but after everything she had concluded from her family lying to her about John, she now saw absolutely no point. Viciously wiping her eyes, Leila froze for a split second.

John.

Reaching into her pocket, Leila pulled out the small piece of paper and carefully unfolded it, her eyes fixed to the letters and digits written before her.

As of right then, Margaret's comments were no longer a factor for Leila. No matter what anyone else told her, she was positive that nothing about John could be any worse than the fight she had just had with Kurt. And, one way or another, she was going to find out for herself.

-xXx-

**Sunday –**

Leila read over the text message from Kurt for a fourth time, but still, felt nothing towards it;

_Hey, baby, I'm so sorry about last night. I was just so worried about you. I didn't tell Mum. I'll ring you tonight. Sorry. I love you._

Rolling her eyes, Leila deleted the message. She then reached over to her desk draw and opened it, digging right down to the bottom before she finally grasped a hold of the small piece of paper and pulled it out. Her eyes locked onto the phone number staring back at her, before she refocused all her senses to every noise going on around her.

Neither Zack or Cody were there, obviously, and Carey was in the kitchen attempting to make breakfast. That was surely going to take a while.

She pressed the red 'hang up' button on her phone sending it back to the main screen, as Leila then slowly began to dial in John's number. She hit 'connect' with the smallest possible amount of hesitation, and then forced herself to wait patiently. Her eyes widened in anticipation as the connection was made and the long, droned out rings began to echo in her ear. Each buzz only increased the feeling of intense apprehension that was brewing in a lump in her throat, when suddenly, after about the sixth ring, Leila felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach.

"Hello?" the deep voice spoke, booming through her brain.

Leila swallowed, hastily attempting to find her voice, "H-Hello? Um, I'm, er, looking for J-John Mackenzie?" she said quietly.

"Who wants to know?"

Leila's breath became faster and more uneven, "I'm, um… well, I think I m-might be his… d-daughter."

An eerie silence abruptly took over all conversation. Leila was certain that the man on the other line could hear her shaky, gasping, anxious breaths that were uncontrollably being emitted from her mouth, and the fact that he sill hadn't replied to her was definitely not easing her nerves in any way, shape or form.

Then he said it.

"…Leila?"

-xXx-

Zack groaned at the God-awful buzzing sound that reverberated throughout his apartment for the third or fourth time in a row. No matter what anyone else told him, he thought to himself as he reluctantly dragged himself out of bed, nine o'clock in the morning was still way too early to visit anybody.

The bright sunlight streaming into the lounge room was a definite contrast to the blackness of his room as Zack tried to adjust his vision while he walked over the intercom at the front door and pressed the button in.

"What?" he sniped down the microphone. His eyes suddenly widened in awareness at the sound of an arrogant laugh the echoed to him in reply.

"I'm here to see Maddie."

_Trent_, Zack thought, _you're freakin' kidding me._

Forcing the button back in, Zack licked his lips ready to spit some fiery insult in response to Maddie's boyfriend, when he abruptly brought himself to a halt. All memories of his argument with Maddie from the night before flowed back through him, as did the look of grief that had wiped itself across her face.

Gritting his teeth, Zack cleared his throat, "I'll go get her," he hissed.

Tearing himself away from the front entrance of his apartment, Zack pounded loudly once on Maddie's bedroom door. He rolled his eyes at the growling answer he received.

"Trent's here to see you!" he boomed through the wooden door.

In a matter of seconds, Maddie was out in the lounge room, wrapped tightly in her dressing gown with her messy bed head of blonde hair streaming down her back. Zack forcedly turned his awareness away from her. Carey may not have always looked completely stunning in the mornings, but Maddie sure as hell did.

After listening to the unbearable 'good-morning, honey's' or any other compliment the two cooed to each other over the intercom, Zack finally stood up, grabbed a shirt and pair of jeans off the arm of the lounge and pulled them over his boxers and singlet.

Maddie smiled sweetly as she pressed the button that opened the door downstairs, but the expression soon fell from her face when Zack nudged his way past her to get to the door.

Biting her lip, she pushed it back into place as Zack attempted to open it and leave, "Can we talk about last night? Please?"

Zack gazed down at the floor and closed his eyes, sighing, "You're keeping him waiting," he answered conceitedly.

Clearly taking the hint, Maddie removed her hand from the door and watched in defeat as Zack immediately opened it and stepped into the hall, glaring at Trent as he walked by and disappeared into the elevator.

-xXx-

Happily rattling on the door to suite 2330, Aidan opened it wide and let himself into Leila's lounge room, looking around for any sign of his best friend.

"Leila?"

The youngest Martin's bedroom door cracked open ever so slowly as she nervously peered out from behind it. When her eyes locked with Aidan's, she groaned in annoyance, "Don't do that, man. I thought you were my mum back from rehearsal, or something."

"Sorry," Aidan said, shrugging, "So, what's going –"

Aidan then abruptly stopped mid-sentence as Leila revealed herself from behind her door carrying a small backpack. He frowned in confusion, "Where are you going?"

Leila ignored the question, and instead, simply walked over to the kitchen bench and picked up her phone and wallet, placing them in the bag.

"Leila?"

"What?" she asked innocently.

Aidan rolled his eyes, "Where are you going?"

Leila paused and thought over her answer for a second or two. Eventually, she turned her attention back to Aidan and licked her lips, "I'm going to see John Mackenzie."

Aidan's jaw dropped, "You're what?"

"I'm going to see him," Leila confirmed, nodding, "I've spoken to him on the phone. He's not in jail – his place is, like, an hour away from here by train, he gave me his address."

Leila smiled and waited for a reply to develop from Aidan, though, his jaw was still hanging on the floor, "Are you crazy?"

Leila frowned at the less than supportive tone of her friend's voice.

"Where in the world did you get his phone number?" he pressed on.

"I went back to Margaret's yesterday evening," Leila answered, "I told her everything and she gave it to me. I rang him up and actually spoke to him!"

Aidan shook his head, not allowing himself to understand the excitement in Leila's voice, "How do you plan on getting out there exactly?"

"The train, like I said. That stuff is all on the internet. I know exactly which buses and which train I need to catch. It's what I used to get to Margaret's last night, too."

Aidan shook his head in total and utter disbelief, "You can't seriously go, Leila!"

Leila felt her face twist into an expression of confusion, "Why not?"

"Well, you're only just starting to feel better, for one. Plus, you don't even know him! Don't you think there's a reason your parents kept him away from you?"

"He's my dad!"

"No, Kurt is," Aidan urged.

"No," Leila echoed, "He's Zack and Cody's dad, and they've all been lying to me for practically my whole life!"

"They're going to kill you if you go," Aidan stated matter-of-factly, crossing his arms against his chest.

Leila narrowed her eyes in fierce accusation, "You're not going to tell them, are you?"

"Only if you do it," Aidan countered, ripping the backpack out of Leila's hands, "You don't know what will happen if you do, Lei. You could get hurt or anything!"

Leila angrily snatched the bag back, "If you say anything to anyone, I swear Aidan Owens, I'll hate you forever! I will never speak to you again!"

Instantly after hearing this, Aidan felt a part of his strong stature diminish into nothing. Gazing sadly down at his shoes, he took in a deep, gloomy breath, "You have no idea how lucky you are to have a perfect family, Leila. I'd give anything to have just half of what you do."

Leila swallowed stiffly and watched the different forms of body language take over every part of Aidan.

It wasn't like she didn't know what he was referring to, and if this were any other situation, the slight flicker of an impending argument would've burnt out ages ago. But this time around, Leila had other ideas.

"Yes, Aidan, I know, ok? Your granddad died."

Aidan shot his head up, wide-eyed.

"But this is so, totally different," Leila persisted, "this matters."

An awkward silence suddenly overwhelmed the suite in an instant hush. The two best friends stood facing each other in the centre of the room, waiting for the other to make another movement or sound – all the while, Leila's last comment repeating itself tauntingly over and over again in Aidan's brain.

When nothing else was said, he finally got the picture. Sucking in another deep breath, Aidan forcedly held back the rare, warm tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.

"Fine," he spat dejectedly, "Do whatever you want! I don't care!"

Leila closed her eyes and flinched at the shattering sound of the front door slamming back into place. Not even bothering to try and comprehend Aidan's point of view, she shook her head at her friend and then quickly dashed back to her room.

Directing her attention to her laptop, she typed in the address that Margaret had given her, and then e-mailed it to her phone. That way, she figured, there wouldn't be the worry about a flimsy piece of paper falling from her pocket or backpack.

She glanced at the font typed on her phone and smiled in great anticipation, before focusing her attention on the digital time that glowed back at her from the corner of the screen. Almost four o'clock. It was time to go.

-xXx-

Zack gazed blankly at the road ahead of him as he continued to drive along the main Boston block. It hadn't exactly been the most interesting of days. Kurt hadn't needed him at work at all, so Zack had more or less just spent his time trying to avoid Maddie. He thought he had been doing a pretty good job of it, too, until the sound of his phone ringing abruptly derailed his train of thought.

He rolled his eyes as he flicked on his left blinker and pulled over, reaching for his phone, hoping that it wasn't Maddie.

Sighing in relief at the name the flashed back at him, Zack smiled and hit the 'answer' button, "What's up, Momma?"

"Zack, sweetie, I need you're help. I got back from my rehearsal and I thought she'd be ok, but now I'm back and she's –"

"Whoa, whoa, Mum, calm down," Zack pressed gently, "What are you talking about?"

"Leila," Carey replied quickly, "Leila's gone."

Zack frowned, glancing at the clock in his car. Ten minutes past four.

"What do you mean she's gone?"

"She's not here," Carey spoke syllable by syllable, "I tried ringing her phone but there was no answer and I rang Natalie but she hasn't been around there all day. I'm starting to get worried, it's after four o'clock and she never goes anywhere without telling me."

"Ok, Mum, ok," Zack cut back in, "I'll take a drive around to try and find her. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. Did Natalie say if Aidan was home?"

"No, he wasn't there either."

"Well there you go," Zack said enthusiastically, "The two of them have probably just gone off somewhere and lost track of the time. It'll be fine."

Zack heard Carey breathe a sigh of relief down the phone, "You're right. I'm sorry, sweetie, you know how I worry."

"Yeah, I do," Zack replied smartly.

"Hey, you watch that sarcastic attitude with me, young man," Carey sniped in her motherly tone.

Zack bit his lip, "Sorry, Mum. I'll go for a drive around and see if I can find her."

"Thank you, baby. I'll talk to you soon."

"Later," Zack concluded, hanging up his phone.

Restarting the ignition, Zack then began on his journey throughout the general area around the Tipton in search for his sister. In a way, he felt sort of bad. He knew that he and Cody had organised to take Leila to a baseball game before the weekend was out, but neither of them had really managed to find the time. Considering that they seemed to be bonding just as well as ever when they had met up the other day downtown, the enthused effort to spend more time together didn't exactly go to plan.

Suddenly being pulled back out of his trance, Zack glanced out of the driver's seat window as he spotted a very lonely and sad looking Aidan walking up the street. Zack raised a concerned eyebrow and tooted his horn, gaining the younger boy's attention.

Aidan gulped subtly to himself as Zack pulled over and hopped out of the car. His nerves crept up to a level of constant increase at the friendly smile that lay across the older twin's face, while he tried his absolute hardest to come up with something to say.

"Hey, little man, what's up?"

Aidan froze. He was never as good at improvising as Leila was.

"Nothing much."

"Sounds fun," Zack quipped jokingly to his younger friend, "Hey, listen, do you know where Lei is at all? Mum's going on one of her over-protective tirades again."

Twiddling his thumbs in the most obvious sense of tension, Aidan tried his absolute hardest to make his voice box work, "Um, nope, sorry. Haven't seen her, not for a while now. No idea whatsoever."

_Stupid, stupid, stupid_, Aidan told himself as Zack's disbelieving gaze continued to slice through him.

"Well, bye, Zack!"

"Whoa, hold up," Zack instantly replied, pulling Aidan back by the shoulder, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're just about as good a liar as what Cody is."

Aidan's eyes immediately shot down to the footpath below him.

"Is there something you're not telling me, Aidan?"

"No," he spat in direct response.

Zack frowned and forced back a chunk of irritation, _Is this what it was like dealing with me when I was his age?_

"Ya' know, if there's something going on," Zack urged, "you can tell me."

"No I can't."

"Yes you can."

Aidan shook his head and glanced back up, "No, I mean I really can't."

Zack breathed out a huff of ever growing nerves at the anxious tone that smothered Aidan's voice, "Why wouldn't you be able to tell me? It can't be that bad."

Aidan remained completely silent, now looking back down at the ground, which, of course, didn't exactly give certainty to Zack's original thoughts that Leila was ok.

Leading the younger boy out of the way of the pedestrians walking by, Zack replaced his hand on Aidan's shoulder, "Look, Aidan –"

"No, Zack, I really can't say."

"Well, why not?"

"'Cause Leila said she'd never speak to me again!"

Zack felt his heart come to an abrupt stop as Aidan bit his tongue, instantly wishing to disregard his last statement.

The expression that lay on the twelve year old's face looked all too familiar to Zack. In a matter of seconds, the older twin felt himself being dragged back in time, all the feelings of his own secret creeping back up on him. The secret that had the capabilities to destory his family and that he had been forced to carry by himself, not knowing what to do. The secret he wasn't even sure could be trusted with his twin brother. The secret about John's affair.

"Ok, kiddo, I know how you feel," Zack began, attempting not to sound too frantic.

"No you don't," Aidan tried to counter.

"Yeah. I do." Zack froze for a moment as he gathered the thoughts that his younger self was feeding to him through his mind, "Scared. Scared that you don't know what to do or who you might hurt. Upset. Betrayed. Even a little angry, right?"

Successfully having caught his attention, Aidan gawked back up and slowly nodded his head.

"Angry at Lei for making you keep a secret. Angry at yourself." Zack paused for a second, catching a glance at the expression that stretched across Aidan's face. That made it clear to him that it was time to make his younger self shut up and come back to the present, "Anyway, look, Leila will get over it. She will. You just need to do what you know in your heart is right."

Aidan kept his eyes locked on Zack's while all the remnants of the older twin's words mixed into the hesitation and reluctance that was scattered throughout his mind.

"Where is Leila?"

There was another short pause, then Aidan blinked, "She's gone to meet someone."

"Who?" Zack barked without delay.

Sensing the urgency in Zack's voice, Aidan stopped again to briefly rethink his decision.

The fear he felt inside of what Leila would do if she found out he had ratted her out was so overpowering that Aidan was quickly beginning to regret having said anything at all. Then again, the curiosity he felt about why Zack seemed so unnerved about Leila's whereabouts was built by the exact same amount of fear, but was slightly more overwhelming. And not just because his best friend's twenty-three year old brother was looming hazardously over him, either.

"…John Mackenzie."

Zack's eyes iced over at the words that repeated themselves tauntingly throughout his entire body. Even as he tried to ignore the one name that he thought he would never hear again, the sound of his younger self's suppressed screams continued their attempt to force their way back through to reality, though they were soon drowned out by the louder, more terrified shrieks of the twelve year old Cody that Zack had found crumbled on the Tipton Hotel floor all those years ago. His mind then began cycling in a whirlwind as many different images appeared in his head. A smashed doorknob, his old baseball bat, broken glass, a beer bottle, so much blood, Cody's scar and then, finally, a figure of baby Leila. Zack couldn't let John get to her - not now, not after all this time. Not when there was an incredible amount to lose.

"Zack?"

Zack's glazed over expression locked back onto Aidan's as the smaller boy waited anxiously for a reaction from his older friend.

"He's in jail," Zack stated in a blatant monotone.

Aidan defiantly shook his head, "No he's not – not anymore. We thought so, too, but Leila swears she's spoken to him on the phone. And she's going to see him where he lives."

As he truly began to realise his worse fears, Zack's speech was almost completely emotionless, "Aidan, I'm gonna' need you to come back to the hotel with me."

Aidan froze, "Am I in trouble?"

"No," Zack soothed. He slowly started to feel his hard exterior melt a little at the concern that had taken over Aidan's body. Placing a comforting arm over Aidan's shoulders, Zack lead him towards the car, "No, you're not in trouble. You did the right thing, Aidan."

Aidan nodded somberly and sat down in the passenger seat. He watched through the glass windows as Zack checked for traffic before walking around to the driver's side and opened the door, sitting down, too.

Trying to stay calm, Zack raked his fingers back through his hair and then picked up his phone, "I've just gotta' call Cody, and then your mum to let her know where you are. While I do that, I need you to think back to how this all started, ok? Every little detail. Can you do that for me?"

Aidan answered with a soft 'yes' as Zack started the engine and flicked his left blinker on, holding the phone to his ear, "Ok. Put your seatbelt on."

Placing his shaky hands on the steering wheel, Zack glanced back at his rear vision mirror before safely pulling away from the curb and into the steady flow of traffic, waiting impatiently for Cody to pick up. Normally, under any other circumstance, Zack would never do anything as dangerous as talking on his mobile while driving, especially not with one of the kids in the car, but then again, this wasn't exactly just any circumstance.

-xXx-

Bailey sat nervously in the comfort of her and Cody's lounge in their new apartment, anxiously drumming a long, white box against the palm of her hand. Any second now, her husband was due to walk through the front door home from work, and as much as she didn't like admitting it to herself, Bailey had absolutely no idea how to tackle what she had to tell him.

Suddenly, as if on cue, Bailey took in a deep breath as she heard the door swing open, shortly followed by Cody's footsteps up the hall.

"Hey, baby," he called as he walked into the lounge room. Bailey smiled and watched him as he placed his brief case and car keys on the table by the doorway and sat down in his armchair to take off his jacket and shoes, "How was your day?"

Bailey's grin grew wider and the genuine tone in Cody's voice, while she subtly hid the box in between the lounge cushions, "It was good. Relaxing. But it always is when I don't have work or school."

Cody laughed, "I hear 'ya. We weren't all that busy down at the surgery today, but there was this one four year old kid who came to get his prior-school injection before he starts in September and he would not stop screaming. It was horrible."

Bailey bit her lip as Cody got out of his arm chair and came to join her on the lounge. He wrapped a strong arm around her and pulled her into his embrace, "I love my job, but there is nothing worse than a hysterical kid or baby."

Looking down into her lap, Bailey inhaled another breath and continued to fidget with the cardboard box that sat by her side.

"Yeah… listen, Cody, I have to tell you something."

"What is it?" Cody asked, not moving from his position against his wife.

"Um," Bailey stuttered, "Well, I'm not really sure how to tell you, but…"

She pulled out the box from the beige coloured cushions and showed it to husband, watching his eyes grow wide.

"…I think I might be pregnant."

Cody gasped slightly, eyes still the size of saucers, as he took the pregnancy test from Bailey's hands, "What? Are you sure?"

Bailey nodded, "My period is a few days late -"

"That's not big deal though, sweetie."

"- And I've thrown up every morning for about a week."

Cody paused, "Oh."

Bailey waited for Cody to extend on his last thought, taking the test back from him while she stood up from her seat, "I'm sorry, Cody."

Cody frowned, "Sorry?" he asked, mimicking his wife's move and grasping her by the waist, "Sorry for what?"

"For this. I know we've only been married for a couple of months, and we only just moved in here what feels like a split second ago, but everything is still moving fast – too fast, and –"

"Whoa, whoa, Bailey," Cody interjected. He hesitated for a moment, "You think I'm unhappy about this?"

Bailey scrunched her brow while Cody placed a gentle hand on her stomach, "You mean… you're not?"

"Of course not! As long as the baby looks like you," Cody exclaimed, "Adding a baby to our little family would be absolutely perfect."

Bailey's grin reappeared on her face as she giggled her embarrassing laugh that always emitted from her mouth whenever Cody complimented her.

"Well?" Cody said after a few seconds of silence.

"Well, what?"

The younger twin rolled his eyes and took Bailey's hand, towing her into their bedroom, "Go take the test so we can know for sure!"

"Ok, ok," Bailey conceded, pushing open the door to her and Cody's ensuite. She stopped for a second and glanced back at him, still smiling, "Cross your fingers."

Cody returned the beaming expression and held up his hand, showing his crossed fingers before Bailey disappeared behind the white, wooden door.

Cody let a content sigh escape his lips. As humble as the younger twin may have been, he wasn't afraid to admit that his life up until now had been just about as close to perfect as any other man could get. Of course, there were the obvious faults that emerged from his childhood, but never in his wildest fantasies did Cody ever imagine that by the time he was just twenty-three years of age that he would have his ideal job, his own apartment and be married to the girl of his dreams. To become a father would top it all off.

All of sudden, Cody sensed his daydreams shatter to pieces as he heard his mobile phone go off in his pocket. Pulling out the small, black device, Cody glanced at the caller I.D. and smirked again, "Hey, bro. What's -"

"Leila's gone," Zack immediately cut in.

Cody felt his face scrunch into an image of confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"She knows, man, she knows everything. You need to get to the Tipton now!"

"Zack, just calm down!" Cody urged worriedly, "Tell me what's going on, what does she know?"

"John!" Zack abruptly spat. He unexplainably tweaked onto Cody's sudden change of aura, "I've got Aidan here with me. Leila knows about John. She's been talking to him on the phone and now she's going to see him where he lives."

Zack waited as his revelation was followed with nothing but silence.

"He's in jail."

Zack sighed at his younger brother's detached tone, "That's exactly what I said, bro."

Where Cody stood in his bedroom, he raked his free hand through his hair in total distress. He froze in place as he felt his hand streak down his face and come to a halt at the sensation of his scar that exploded under his sense of touch.

"Cody?"

The younger twin buzzed back to reality as Zack tried to regain his attention.

"Huh?"

"I said I'm gonna' call Dad and tell him to come meet us at the hotel."

"Ok," Cody affirmed, "I'm on my way."

"Hurry. Please."

Cody rigorously nodded his head at the fearful tone that caked his older brother's voice and moved his hand away from his face, "Promise. Meet you out the front."

Without another single breath being taken, Cody snapped his phone shut and shoved it back into the depths of his pocket. In the next instant, he spun around, quickly changing out of his long sleeved work shirt into a simple t-shirt and then threw on a pair of sand shoes.

"Bailey!" he called into the bathroom. At that moment, everything from the past five minutes rapidly flooded back to his memory as Cody gawked at the empty white box that sat on his bed, "Bailey…"

"Did you call me, sweetie?" Bailey asked pleasantly, rejoining Cody in their room.

Cody's vision locked onto the long device Bailey held in her shaky, nervous hands.

"There's a problem." Cody hesitated at the concerned look that directly swept across his wife's face, "John's back and Leila's gone to find him."

Bailey's eyes broadened in surprised shock, "What? But, no! He's in jail!"

"That's what we thought, too," Cody began to explain, "Zack just called and told me everything. He wants me to go meet him and the hotel but…"

Cody's eyes drifted back to the pregnancy test that Bailey held. She followed her husband's gaze and paused in thought for a second or two before taking it out of his line of vision and hid it behind her back.

"Go."

Cody's head shot back up to meet Bailey's assertive features, "What? But, honey –"

"Cody," Bailey pressed, grabbing each of her husband's shoulders and staring him directly in the eye, "It's your little sister. Go."

Cody held the gaze for a few seconds longer as all his options weighed over in his mind. On the one hand, Cody could wait to find out the result of Bailey's pregnancy test – it wasn't like it was going anywhere. But on the other hand, the situation that Leila may have caught herself up in was definitely not something that could wait.

In a final burst of gratitude, Cody cupped Bailey's face in his hands and pulled her mouth to his, placing a tender, passionate kiss on her lips. Breathing heavily, he reluctantly ripped himself away and recaptured her eye contact, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Bailey sang sweetly, "I'll meet up with you later. **Go**."

Allowing his hand to creep back down to Bailey's stomach, he held it there for an extremely brief moment and then dashed back into the lounge room and snatched up his car keys, darting like a bullet out the front door.

-xXx-

Carey at Kurt's heads both instantly snapped up as Zack, Cody and Aidan all made their abrupt entrance through the front door of suite 2330.

"Where's the fire, boys?" Kurt asked coolly.

Zack felt as if he was about to explode, but refrained himself for a fraction longer as he placed and hand on Aidan's shoulder, "Buddy, do you wanna' go into Lei's room and fire up the computer, please?"

Aidan nodded his head at once and quickly raced off into Leila's bedroom.

Sighing angrily, Zack exchanged a glance with Cody before the two turned their attention to their parents. Attempting to keep his older brother calm, Cody spoke first, "When where you two exactly planning to tell us that John was out of prison?"

In a split second, Carey and Kurt were wearing matching looks of shock, "What do you mean?" Kurt asked.

Carey's eyes rapidly narrowed, noticing an absence in the room, "Where's Leila?"

There was silence as both twins paused, not knowing what to say. Realising what Carey was getting at, Kurt's hand crept up anxiously to cup his mouth, "Boys?!"

"She's gone. With John," Zack said blatantly, "She found out about him, they got into contact and now she's gone."

Carey clutched her chest as a brutal, sharp sting tweaked in her heart, "No…" she started quietly, "No! How could we have let this happen?!"

Kurt placed a comforting arm around Carey's shoulders, "How did she find out?" he asked calmly, though it was clear he was rapidly starting to lose his composure, too.

"Aidan told us that she first saw his name on her birth certificate," Cody began to explain, "Where did she find it?"

Carey froze on the spot. Struggling out of Kurt's grip, she spun around and allowed her eyes to fall upon the few cardboard boxes that sat unsorted in the middle of the suite.

"She must've found it looking through some of the old stuff in those," Carey said slowly, "Oh my God, this is all my fault! Why didn't I just stop procrastinating and put them all away?"

"Mum, chill out," Zack said, trying to do so himself, "Leila pieced together the rest of the puzzle without even using her birth certificate. She found out about the old apartment across town. That old lady John sold it to when we were kids still lives there. She pretty much gave Lei all the information she needed. If only I had known what she was up to when I caught her and Aidan hanging around there, then maybe –"

"Wait, what?" Carey spat, "You saw her around there and didn't think anything of it?"

"Hey! Let's not play the blame game," Kurt opted, "There were probably a lot of things that we all could've done to stop this from happening."

As Kurt spoke, his mind traced back to the argument he had had with Leila the night before. If anything, he thought, his total outburst of anger would have been the only thing to make Leila want to hunt down her real father. His jaw then dropped as his last thought repeated itself in his mind.

"Well maybe if Zack had stopped to think for two minutes –"

"Mum!" Cody yelled in his brother's defence.

"Just stop, would you!" Kurt sniped loudly, "It's not your fault, Carey, and it's not the boys', either. I had a huge fight with Leila, ok? I don't remember ever yelling at her like that before."

Carey frowned in instant anger.

"Surely she would've gone to find John because she wanted to meet her real dad," Kurt went on sadly, "Because she was upset with me."

"Kurt, how could you?!" Carey continued to roar, "You promised me to protect her and look out for her just like you have the boys, and now this?!"

"Carey, I –"

"Oh, shut the hell up!" Zack blew up in a last straw of blind fury, "This isn't any single person's fault, ok?! If anything, it's all out faults!"

Cody tried to grab a hold of his older brother's arm in support, but Zack shoved him out of reach.

"This whole thing – all of it – has been built on lies!" The room sharply fell to silence as Zack resumed, "John lied to you, we lied to Leila and now you've lied to us!" he said, gesturing towards he and his brother.

Carey took a moment to find her voice, "We're not the only ones," she restarted, a lot more serene, "I remember you lying and breaking a promise to Cody all those years ago, too."

"Yeah, but the only difference is that Cody and I haven't lied to each other in ten years," Zack stated plainly and full of confidence.

Cody nodded his head in utter agreement, "This has to stop now, Mum. Dad. If we have any hope of getting Leila back before something like this happens," the other three Martins froze as Cody's fore finger pointed towards his scar, "then we have to work together. Now."

A further hush contained the suite as all the words emitted into the cool air took the time to sink deep down into everyone's minds. After a short second or two, Carey found herself breaking down into soft tears, "I'm sorry," she mumbled, latching herself onto Kurt's arm, "I'm sorry I blamed you Kurt. And Zack…"

Zack simply shrugged his shoulders, "Forget it. Really."

"I just want her to be ok," Carey stifled through sobs, dashing over to Zack and wrapping her arms around his torso. Zack sighed and half-heartedly imitated his mother's actions, as Cody soothingly rubbed her back.

"We'll find her, Mum. We will," Cody affirmed strongly. He took a quick glance at the face of his watch to find it was just after twenty past four. "Aidan says that John's house is about an hour away from here by train. Any ideas how he swung that?"

Kurt came up behind Carey and gently towed her out of Zack's grip, "When John was found guilty he was sentenced to a minimum of five years. When that was up, he was released on a good behaviour bond."

Cody shook his head, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"We didn't want to worry you," Carey interjected, wiping her eyes, "Your dad and I put a restraining order on him to make sure he couldn't get into any contact with Leila."

"And what were the conditions of it?" Zack enquired.

Carey scrunched her brow as she tried to gather her thoughts, "That he couldn't make any direct contact with her via phone or email or anything else -"

"Which he's already done," Cody pointed out.

"- And that he had to be a minimum of thirty miles away from her at all times."

Cody came to a halt for a brief instant as he allowed a few quick math calculations to pass his mind, "Aidan said that Leila told him John's house was about an hour away by train. By car that would be, what, ten, maybe fifteen minutes less? So, about forty-five minutes by car –"

"That's gotta' be about thirty miles," Zack finished for his twin.

"We need to find that address."

"Guys?"

All four Martins gazed toward Leila's bedroom door as Aidan reappeared from behind it, "There's a problem."

Zack and Cody immediately darted across the other side of the room and joined Aidan at Leila's desk in her room where the laptop was.

"What is it?" Cody asked.

Aidan nodded towards the box that had popped up on the screen, "Password."

Zack groaned in annoyance, "Well, do you know what it is?"

Aidan hesitated for a moment, "I think so. It might be Virgo – her star sign."

Cody quickly punched the keys into the computer and hit enter, waiting eagerly, only to succumb to disappointment when the box re-emerged, asking for the correct password.

"Aw, man," Aidan exclaimed, "She changed it on us. I could've sworn that was it."

"So what now?" Zack queried, feeling useless.

Cody grinned widely and flexed his fingers above the keyboard, "Watch and learn."

Zack and Aidan shared a confused glimpse at each other before Cody began furiously hacking away at the keyboard. Within a few seconds of fast typing, the screen went completely black. Soon after, a bunch of coded letters and digits began filing down the screen, flashing a neon green colour, until they all disappeared, and in their place, Leila's desktop image took over the page.

Zack's eyes widened proudly at his younger brother, "Dude! You can hack computers? Since when?"

"For a while," Cody revealed delightfully, "How else do you think all your computer game cheats were wiped from your hard drive when we were eleven?"

Zack's vision suddenly darkened, "That was you? Do you know how long it took me to get all those codes and cheats together?!"

"In case you've forgotten, you fell on my leg and broke it," Cody countered childishly to his brother, "I think it was pretty fair revenge."

"Hey, you're the one who was stupid enough to agree to wrestle me when I had pretty much perfected Shawn Michaels' elbow drop!"

"Oh yeah, Zack, you're a real 'Showstopper'!" Cody spat, quoting one of their wrestling hero's many nicknames.

"Hey!" Aidan cut in, "How old are you guys, again? Can we please forget about your stupid fight and get back to finding Leila?"

The twins fell to silence and glanced angrily each other for a brief second before their expressions eventually softened.

"You're right," Cody agreed.

Zack nodded his head in further consent, "Ok, so, do you have any idea what websites Leila visited to find out everything she wanted to know about John?"

Aidan hesitated for a moment when a light bulb suddenly lit up in his brain, "No, but just go to the history in her computer."

Cody grinned as he opened up an internet browser, "Impressive."

Smiling in self-pride, Aidan watched as the web page loaded, though his appearance soon turned blank, much like the plain, white history page that popped up before he and the brothers, "She wiped all her history?"

"She really did think of everything, didn't she?" Zack commented with a slight undertone of admiration.

Cody began to drum his fingers on the desk impatiently, "Now what? It's getting close to four-thirty, who knows where Leila could be by now?"

The room was suddenly overwhelmed in a frantic quiet as the three boys tried their hardest to rack their brains for a solution. Then, without warning, the sound of Zack clicking his fingers ricocheted against the four walls surrounding them.

"I got it," he announced, "Lei's been calling him, right?" Cody and Aidan slowly nodded their heads, "So, who's to say they haven't been emailing each other, too?"

Cody groaned unsurely, "Zack, if she's deleted her history and covered her tracks this well up until now, do you really think she'd be sloppy enough to leave behind a strong trace of evidence like an email?"

"Do you have any other ideas?"

Cody strived to remain stern faced toward Zack's suggestion, but then again, it was, like the older twin said, the only one they had. Sighing to himself again, Cody reluctantly punched the keys for Leila's Hotmail account into the address bar at the top of the page and waited nervously as it loaded.

Much like he had expected, her inbox was completely empty.

"Oh, come on," Zack cursed, "She couldn't even leave behind one tiny, little clue to help us out? No notes, no emails, no websites, no -"

"Whoa, whoa, hang on a minute," Cody cut in.

"What is it?" Aidan immediately asked.

"There's a message in her draft box," Cody informed the two, tentatively opening the link. His eyes widened at what he discovered, "No -"

"- way," Zack finished.

Aidan let the new found data sink in for a second or two, "The address to his house?!"

Zack, Cody and Aidan all leaned in closer toward the small screen and read the few simple words over and over again. Indeed it was a postal address, and given the circumstances, one could only assume that it was John's postal address.

"But why? Why would this be in here?" Cody questioned.

"Think, smart guy," Zack said cynically, "She wouldn't have remembered it, right? Maybe she typed it down to print it out on a piece of paper or email it to her phone or something."

"I guess so."

Aidan's vision flicked back and forth between Zack and Cody as they continued to sit there, blatantly staring at the screen, "Well, hello? Are you guys just going to sit here or are you gonna' go and get her?"

The twins instantly gawked up at each other, and within about half a second, Zack leapt out of his chair and dashed back out into the lounge room with Aidan while Cody quickly keyed the address into his own phone.

Once it was securely saved in his phone's 'to-do' list, Cody imitated his brother's actions and bounded into the next room. The look on his face diminished to sadness at the sight of Carey and Kurt sitting on the lounge hunched over Leila's birth certificate that sat shakily in Carey's hand. They looked up at the sound of the three boys.

"Leila must've shoved it back into the box when I wasn't around," Carey enlightened dejectedly.

"Don't worry, Mum," Cody started, "We know where she is."

"What?" Kurt and Carey spat in joint unison, "Well, where?" Kurt continued.

"Where doesn't matter," Zack put in firmly, "Because Cody and I are going to get her."

"You can't go alone," Kurt instantly argued.

"Yes we can, Dad," Cody countered.

Carey heaved a heavy breath at the unusual irrationality being emitted from Cody, "Cody, Zack, please -"

"Mum, do you want Leila back?" Zack shot.

"Of course I do!"

"Then the best thing to do is to let Cody and I handle it."

Narrowing her eyes, Carey tried to match her eldest sons overpowering gaze, but Zack was making it pretty clear pretty fast that nothing was going to change his mind, "We'll go. We'll get her back and sort out John."

"Aidan can stay here with you," Cody took over, "He might be able to fill in some blanks."

The two parents cast their gaze down to the young boy that stood between the twins. He glanced down at the floor guiltily, "I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Martin. Leila wasn't going to give up, but I know I should've try harder to make her."

"Forget it," Kurt replied, he and Carey both dismissing the apology, "We know you tried everything you could."

"We'll call your parents and tell them what's going on," Carey then spoke, "And we'll get Mr. Moesby, London and the others over, too, to try and help as much as they can."

Aidan let out a sigh of relief, nodding his head as he hoped that Natalie and Mick weren't worrying about him too much. Although Leila's harsh words to him still stung like a dull throbbing in his chest, he couldn't help but feel concerned and plain frightened for his best friend. Noticing Zack nudge Cody in the arm, Aidan forced himself to cling onto the small sense of faith he had that Leila would come home safely.

"You ready?" Zack asked his younger brother, impetuously jingling his car keys between his fingers.

Cody stifled a quiet 'yes' before turning to his parents, "I've got my phone with me. The second that I ring you - if I do - I want you to call the police and give them the address, alright?"

His parents watched on edge as Cody hastily scribbled down John's address on the notepad that sat in the centre of the coffee table, "Ok," they both complied.

"Be careful," Carey added tensely. She opened up her arms and, firstly, pulled Zack into a tight hug.

"We will," the older twin assured.

Cody then embraced their mum, letting out an anxious breath against her shoulder, "Call Bailey," he whispered to her.

Carey stepped away and wiped a tear from her eye. She carefully traced the left side of Cody's face, shuddering slightly, before unwillingly forcing her arms to hang by her side, "I will."

"Come on, Cody."

The younger twin whipped his head around to find Zack already half hanging out the front door, "Coming," he responded, attempting to sound confident in their actions.

Though, he supposed he was, to some extent. Confident. It wasn't as if he and Zack had never tangled with John before, and they certainly knew how it felt to initially come up short in their confrontations. But even as the two raced up the corridor and into the elevator, and Cody tried his hardest to concentrate solely on the matter at hand, he couldn't help but feel his mind cycle back to how he had hurried over to the hotel leaving Bailey all by herself. Or, perhaps, not technically alone.

-xXx-

All the different twists and turns in the unknown streets seemed to close in on Leila as she continued to trudge nervously up the road, backpack slung over one shoulder.

As she had estimated, her train had arrived at her destination on the furthest side of town just after five o'clock, and now as Leila made her slow way throughout the strange suburban area with John's address glaring back at her from the small screen of her phone, she couldn't help but listen to the same taunting questions that were cycling throughout her brain over and over again. What would happen next? What was John going to be like?

Was she doing the right thing?

Leila's brow scrunched. Each and every time that last question crossed her mind she always found herself taking a quick glance down at her locket and then answering it.

Yes.

If her parents and brothers could find it in their hearts to lie to her for their own good, then who's to say she couldn't do the exact same thing for herself? Yes. As far as she was concerned, she was doing the right thing.

Leila's breath suddenly caught in her throat at the sight of the number faintly painted on the side of an old looking, dirt coloured brick house she passed. It matched the address in her hand.

After checking and double checking the match, Leila forced herself to swallow a sudden wave of anxiety that instantly took over her entire body. She tried to make her legs move, but they were frozen. She tried to blink and look away, but she couldn't force her vision aside. And for a brief moment, she tried to convince herself to turn around and leave right then and there, but the curiosity building up in the pit of her stomach was quickly beginning to take over.

As if a sudden rush of blood had flowed down her feet, Leila took a step forward, and then another, until she found herself on the small front porch of the run down house.

The windows were all closed, all the curtains drawn, and from what Leila could tell, there wasn't a single beam of light being shed beyond the front door. But then again, there was only one way to find out.

Before the opportunity arose for her to tell herself 'no', Leila drummed silently three times on the front door and waited, a deep breath held in.

It felt like an eternity, but after what must have only been a few seconds, Leila felt her heart jump up into her throat as the sound of various different locks coming lose echoed through the wooden door. Dust seeped through the small crack in the door as it busted open ajar, and Leila allowed her vision to run up and down the length of it, suddenly catching eye contact with the person inside.

The door slowly opened an inch further as Leila sensed the heavy beating in her chest increase at the sight of a sly smile that gleamed back at her.

"Leila?" the low voice boomed softly.

The youngest Martin froze again and tried to find her voice, "J-John?"

The grin grew and the door abruptly flew open all the way to fully reveal the figure that stood languidly behind it.

The first thing Leila noticed was the man's height. Tall was an understatement. The dark hair that hung long and loosely by either side of his head grossly complimented the clear unshaven stubble that clung shabbily on his chin and face. But perhaps more than anything else, his eyes - his piercing, deep blue eyes - cut through Leila like a knife. They were the exact same eyes she saw when she looked in the mirror.

"You… you r-really are my d-dad, aren't you?"

The sordid smirk reappeared on the man's face as he simply nodded his head and gestured for Leila to enter.

The stale smell of the small house immediately took over all of Leila's senses. Neither of her parents were - or had ever been - big drinkers, and similarly, Leila was never around either of her brothers when they were drinking with their friends, but the odour that coated every element of the house was unmistakably strong alcohol.

"You look… beautiful."

The sound of John's voice snapped Leila out of her daze as she spun back around and drove a soft smile towards him.

"I'm so happy you found me," he went on. Leila watched as he walked over to his wooden cabinet, which was one of the only pieces of furniture in the room, and opened it to expose a bottle of whiskey and a single glass.

"Me too," Leila replied as John poured is drink. He quickly swigged it down and then wiped his mouth, pouring another.

"Come and sit down, sweetie," he spoke, "I know I've got a lot of explaining to do."

Ignoring his odd behaviour, Leila agreed and took a seat on the rickety, uncomfortable lounge and placed her bag down as John sat across from her in an arm chair.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I'm just… confused, I guess."

She waited for a response as her father's eyes simply prolonged their gazed fix on her.

"John?"

He blinked, "Oh, no, I'm sorry. I just want to know so much about you, Leila. How has everything been for you? Are you ok? Have you had a good childhood?"

Leila frowned but promptly nodded her head, "Of course. I'm fine. It just sort of feels strange that this is even happening right now."

"Don't worry, I get it," John complied, "I can't believe you're here."

Leila timidly pushed a lock of her long blonde hair behind her ear, "Me neither. Especially since I only found out the other day that you even existed." She paused for a second or two, "Why didn't Mum and Da-… _Kurt_, ever tell me about you?"

John drank up again, "You really wanna' get into this straight away?"

Leila nodded again with no hesitation, "It's why I'm here. At your house." She allowed her eyes to wander the four walls surrounding her, "How long have you been stuck here for?"

"A while," John answered directly, "But I had my reasons. The same reason that I've still got the exact same phone number I've had all these years. I knew you'd find me one day. And it's definitely been worth the wait. Trust me."

Leila uncomfortably scratched her neck. It wasn't exactly the easiest thing in the world to trust John when she had only just met him, particularly considering he still hadn't answered any other questions she had asked of him yet.

"What exactly do you know Leila?" the young girl looked back up at John's probing, "About me? What do you know about me? I'll try my best to fill in the blanks."

Leila bit her lip. There was one particular fact about the man sitting before her that sprung to her mind, "Why were you in jail?"

John sat in thoughtful silence for a minute, sipping the edge of his glass, "It's long story."

"Well, it's not like we haven't got as long as we want."

John's lips upturned in another wily grin, "True. I'm just not sure if you're going to want to hear it."

Leila huffed in her seat and tore her eyes away from John while he continued to drink to his heart's desires.

It had taken Leila every piece of strength in her entire being to put all her hopes and expectations in the visit with John that day. The last thing she wanted was for him to refuse her any facts she asked for. Or to lie to her.

"If you're not going to tell me," she started, standing up, "maybe I should just go."

John rolled his eyes, in total calmness, "Now, come on, Leila. I know you don't mean that."

Leila froze at the front door and reluctantly turned back around.

"If you want me to tell you I will. All I'm saying is that you're not going to like it."

The room remained still as Leila kept her hand firmly gripped on the door handle. John swallowed and tightened the grasp he held around his glass as Leila seemed to still be hesitating.

"It started with an argument."

The devious sneer stretched further across John's face as Leila almost instantly took a slow step back towards the lounge. The speech he had planned God knows how long ago pieced back together little by little as the familiar receptors in his brain telling him to lie through his teeth began utilising their full power over him.

"We had it good, you know. You, your mother and me. But nothing lasts forever, right?" John chuckled to himself, noticing that Leila was hanging on his every word.

"What happened?"

A pause. "Jealously slowly took over. It didn't take long, really."

Leila shot the empty air around her a menacing glare, "Kurt?"

"Kurt… Zack, Cody."

The twelve year old's eyes narrowed, "What?"

"In a way I don't suppose I completely blame them. I mean, they were only your age at the time. I just don't think they could handle the fact that we were happier than their family had ever been. Before you and me."

"I still don't get what you're saying."

John sighed, "I'll admit that I could always sense Kurt's feelings of resentment towards me, but it was Zack and Cody who really took up the opportunity to get rid of me." He stopped and seemed to be gathering his thoughts for a moment, "I got done one night for drink-driving - I can admit that to you. But as soon as word got back to the hotel, Zack and Cody started spinning all these lies about how I had drunk and drove plenty of times before with them in the car and stuff. They told stories to everyone about so called 'drunken tirades' I had gone under when your mum had been at her shows and I had been watching you guys." He shook his head and laughed again, "I wasn't in jail for long, though. Just a few months, but the boys made sure that Carey put out a restraining order on me. They thought it would protect them. And you. That's pretty much how I ended up living out here. Anything to get rid of me, hey?"

Leila gazed down blankly at her lap, as she, too, shook her head, "No way. Are you sure? Like, really sure?"

John held his hands up, "I told you it wouldn't be easy to hear, Leila. I'm not expecting you to believe me if you don't want to, but I'm just telling you what I know."

Clapping her eyes together securely, Leila tried to force the images of Zack and Cody out of her mind. For her life - her entire life - Zack and Cody had been her amazing big brothers that she could always look up to or rely on to help her when she needed it and love her. And now, she wasn't even sure if whether or not she had been able to trust them for all these years. They had, after all, kept her father away from her. That she knew for sure.

"They haven't been horrible to me, or anything like that," Leila protested, adamant to keep the slight glimpse of hope she still held in them alive, "They've been amazing. More than that, like, perfect.

"I remember this one time when I was four. Cody took me up to the roof of the hotel to have a paddle around in the pool. He wasn't getting in, though - he was just going to sit out and read a book and watch me. I didn't know how to swim, but to get to the baby pool we had to walk past the big one. Cody told me to stay away from the edge. He told me over and over and over again, but I didn't listen. I slipped… fell in. It was _so _cold. I wanted to scream, but every time I opened my mouth I just swallowed more water. It felt like I was under there forever, but it can't have been more than a few seconds, 'cause Cody jumped in fully clothed with his new phone and his gamma ray deflector still in his pockets and saved me. I may have been the one spluttering up water, but Cody was still crying more than me.

"But then there was this other time. All the way through school, there was this one girl named Cassie Williams. She's two years older than me and always, always picked on me whenever she got the chance. Anyways, when I was in the fifth grade she had just started Middle School and thought she was so much better than everyone else. One afternoon, Cassie, one of her girlfriends and two boys jumped me and my friends at the Paul Revere mini-mart and tried to steal our money and push us around, or whatever. Zack's car had been acting up so he was catching public transport everywhere, and he was going by on a bus home from work when he saw what was happening. He made the bus driver stop in the middle of the road just so he could get off and defend me and my friends."

The smile that pleasantly graced Leila's face at the recount of each memory struck a chord in John's heart. Although, it wasn't in the way that most may think. Leila obviously loved her brothers more than anyone else in the world - anyone could see that. But that was what John wanted for himself.

"They _lied _to you Leila."

The blissful expression fell from her face.

"They've lied to you for your _entire_ life. They put me here, they put me in jail."

Leila heaved in a deep breath and unintentionally raised her hand up to her neckline, "I know, but -"

"Whatcha' got there?"

Leila stopped mid-sentence and looked quizzically at John, then down at the gold, shell shaped pendant that hung from the chain around her neck, "It's nothing," she answered quickly, letting it fall against her chest, "Just my locket. Zack and Cody got it for me when I turned five."

John chewed down on the inside of his mouth as the cogs in his head continued to turn, "Well that was nice of them, wasn't it?"

Leila shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno'. I guess so. It's got our picture inside."

"Really? Can I see?"

Simply nodding her head, Leila unfastened the latch and opened the locket, revealing the faded photograph inside. She inched closer to John and allowed him to take it in his fingers as he examined it.

"Wow, isn't that lovely? I used to have the exact same picture, you know."

Leila smiled as John's forefinger ran over the image of her as a newborn.

"Until your half-brothers forced me behind bars, of course. And then out here."

Leila froze as she sensed every pigment of colour drain from her face. She hastily snapped her necklace shut and let it slip through her fingers once more as John's last statement circled endlessly through her mind. Half-brothers. _Half_-brothers. The fact seemed so obvious to her, but for some reason, it hadn't sunk in until now.

John let a subtle grin cross his face at the sight of Leila's eyes exploring the new feelings dwelling inside of her, "Do you think when that picture was taken that they knew they were going to deceive you like they have?"

Leila blinked and lay her line of vision back at her father, "Why didn't you come and find me?"

The older man watched as a silent tear slid down his daughter's face, as he then dared to allow his hand to find her knee. She put up no protest.

"Restraining order, remember, sweetie? There was no way I was able to even write to you - your family made sure of that."

Leila vigorously wiped her eyes as she tried to refrain more hot tears spilling down her cheeks, "Well couldn't you have tried to stop them, or anything, at least?"

Her words were exploding uncontrollably from her lips now. It was a lot for her to take in - to discover that the parents and siblings you had grown to love more than life itself for the past twelve years really weren't anything but the figment of their perception of what was a 'normal' family. And the more she though about it, the more Leila believed it.

"Well, there's a way to stop it now," John spoke slowly, regaining Leila's attention as he carefully began the final step in his plan, "They don't know where you are, and even if they knew you were with me, they don't know where I live."

Leila sniffled, "So?"

"So, what's say you and I get out of here. Right now, before anyone can try to separate us again?"

John waited, breath held in, as he tried his absolute hardest to scrutinize Leila's expression and read into what she was thinking. It was crystal clear that the girl was completely overwhelmed with emotion, but there was also a hint of plain determination in her face that said she refused let everyone else make the decisions for her any longer.

After a few final seconds of hesitation, Leila pushed her hair out of her face and blinked once, tightly, erasing all images of her mother, Kurt and her half-brothers from her mind, "Let's go."

Success beamed across John's face as he skulled back the remainder of his drink and quickly wiped his mouth, standing up as he did, "That's my girl."

Leila joined him and stood up, too, completely forgetting about her bag, "But where will we go?"

"Don't worry about a thing. I've got a friend a few towns over from here. I met him when I was inside. We've kept in contact all this time and he knows everything about you and me and what's happened."

Leila furrowed her brow, "You really told him everything?"

John nodded in reply, "He agreed that whenever I needed a place to stay - including when you were with me - that I could have it."

John shoved a few items in an old duffel bag - a cleanish shirt, a couple pairs of boxers and, of course, another bottle of whiskey - and then turned back around and placed a gentle hand on Leila's face, "It's gonna' be a whole new life for you and me, kiddo."

Leila forced a cheek to cheek smile and nodded her head. Her eyes narrowed, however, when she noticed her father's appearance change.

"Just one thing, though?"

Leila shrugged again, "Anything."

John sneered and pointed at the chain around her neck, "That. The locket. Do you seriously think you need it anymore?"

A sudden hush overtook the room, as John remained adamant and kept his gesture directed towards Leila's locket. She had never taken it off. Ever. It was the only thing in the world that she felt could make her feel better when she was down, or give her the confidence she needed when she was in lack of. But then again, it was also the only thing that really reminded her of her brothers.

Leila shook her head at the faint voice still lingering in her mind. _Half-brothers._

"No. I don't need it."

Holding out his hand, John watched with great delight as Leila unclipped the clasp and removed the locket from around her neck. She held it out in front of her, staring at it for a moment. The dull glint that still shined off of it glistened in Leila's eyes, almost beckoning her to put it back on, while she strived her hardest to ignore it.

"Leila?"

The blonde pre-teen immediately snapped out of her trance at the sound of her name as she forced her vision away from the necklace and relocked eyes with John.

Gradually and warily, Leila then placed the locket in his hand.

"There you go," John said, swiftly clapping his hand shut, "Was that so hard?"

Leila swallowed, but eventually shook her head, while she carefully listened to the sound of the gold chain clinking together with the pendant and followed her father's hand disappear into his pocket, releasing the locket and allowing it to fall into its dark depths.

-xXx-

Cody's head slowly elevated up from the small font that glared back at him from his phone as he sensed the ever-growing acceleration of Zack's car creep up further and further. He looked to his left and frowned at the white colour taking over his brother's knuckles where they sat tightly glued to the steering wheel.

"Zack, slow down."

The older twin scoffed, "Oh yeah, Cody, let's take our time rescuing our little sister from that deranged psycho."

"It's a forty zone!"

As he hastily overtook yet another car in front of them, Zack flicked his head to the side and allowed his eyes to come in the contact with the 'forty miles per hour' sign that sat comfortably on the side of the road. Groaning in disproval, he rolled his eyes and gradually began to ride the brake back down to the required speed.

Cody sighed as his heart rate slowed in time with the car's deceleration, "We will find her, ya' know. She'll be ok."

Zack cursed out loud as he caught about the third red light in a row, "She'd better be," he said, bringing the car to a halt, "I can't let anything happen to her, too."

Cody furrowed his brow deeper, "What do you mean 'too'?"

Zack remained silent and subtly let his vision wander over to his twin's face before he shot it back to the road in front of him.

Cody heaved a frustrated breath and brushed his bangs over his scar, "How many more times do we have to go through this, bro?"

"I know, I know."

"It **wasn't** your fault."

"I know, I'm sorry ok?" Zack released the brake and tore off from the front of the line at the green light back up to forty clicks, "I'm just so worried about her."

Cody nodded, "Me too."

Out of the corner of his eye, Zack spotted his younger brother bring his phone back up to his ear, "Dude, just give up," Zack urged, "she's not going to answer."

"I'm not calling Leila," Cody confirmed, "I'm trying to get through to Bailey."

"Bailey? Mum said she'd give her a call for you." Zack waited for a reply from his twin, but instead, Cody sighed into the noiseless receiver and hit the redial button. Zack frowned, flicking on his left blinker as he changed lanes, "Everything ok?"

"Yes," Cody answered immediately. Zack wasn't buying it.

"Cody?"

The younger twin groaned as he phone call went unanswered yet again and then turned to face his brother. Zack spun his head around and locked eyes with his twin for a brief moment. Cody sighed again.

"It's nothing, really."

"Well it obviously can't be nothing if you're so desperate to get through to her."

Cody fell to silence, raking a hand through his hair. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell Zack about Bailey's possible pregnancy. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to have someone to talk to about it. He just wasn't sure if Bailey would want him sharing the news.

"Problems between you two?"

Cody's eyes widened, "No! No. No way, we're fine, it's just…" He trailed off as a final sweep of hesitation cycled his mind, "It's just… before you called, Bailey was about to take a… pregnancy test."

Cody jumped as the car swerved slightly with his older brother's shock.

"You what?" Zack spat.

The younger twin licked his lips, trying to decipher the meaning behind Zack's surprised reaction, "Why do you make it sound so astounding?"

Zack looked back at Cody for a split second, "Hey, don't take it the wrong way, or anything. I'm happy for you, bro, I am. I just never really thought this would happen."

"What would?"

Zack paused in a minute of uncertainty, "Well, by the time you're twenty-four, you're going to married with a kid. I just didn't think everything like that would come so quickly for either one of us."

Directing his vision to the floor, Cody heaved a breath of slight relief. He was pleased that Zack seemed to be raring to give his full support to his younger brother and the potential new member of his family, as he had when he had eventually came around to the idea of Cody and Bailey getting married in the first place.

"Do you ever actually plan on getting married?"

As soon as the question left his lips, Cody seemed just as thrown back by it as Zack did. He bit his lip and hastily whirled his head around, gazing out the window. As he did, his vision expanded at the words staring back at him from the large sign on the island in the middle of the road.

"Left here," he announced while Zack quickly put his blinker back on and rode along the exit off the highway.

Pulling up at yet another set of lights, Zack continued to repeat Cody's question over and over again in his mind. He shrugged his shoulders, turning to fully face his twin, "There's just something about weddings that remind me of executions."

Cody tried not to laugh at his brother's joke while he lips subtly upturned to a small smile. His expression soon fell blank again, however, as something else his brother had told him the other day welcomed itself back into his thoughts.

"How's everything with Maddie now?"

Zack scoffed, "I met her new dude."

Cody's jaw dropped, "You mean the one you walked in on while they were -"

"Screwing? Yeah."

"So what's he like?" Cody's eyes drifted back the road and he pointed out of his window, "This right."

Zack maneuvered the car around the corner, "He's a total douche. He doesn't care about her."

"And you're sure of that?"

"I know his type," Zack instantly sniped, "The only thing he cared about was showing me up in front of her."

Cody cringed slightly at the threatening tone that coated Zack's voice. As much as the older twin persisted that he would never get married, he still immediately jumped to Maddie's defence when it came to one of her dodgy boyfriends. She had certainly had enough of them in the past. Considering this, Cody quickly decided to change the subject, and shot his vision down to the face of his watch, finding it was nearing on five-fifteen.

"What's the trip say?"

Zack looked down at the tripometer that sat next to the speedo in the dashboard, "Thirty-two point eight miles."

"Wow, he was really specific with the rules of that restraining order, wasn't he?"

Cody basked in the silence of the car as he waited for his brother's response, but instead was thrown forward with the inertia of the car coming to a sharp, sudden halt.

"Zack?!" he asked in confusion.

Zack's grip flew from the steering wheel as he viciously unbuckled his seatbelt. Remaining quiet, he simply nodded his head forward. Cody's eyes followed his older brother's gesture out the front windshield – his heart stopping at what he saw.

Without a second's thought, Cody ripped his phone out of his lap and dialed his number one speed dial, while Zack broke out of the car and rushed over to where they could see John trying to usher Leila away into an old, run down, black Toyota.

"Cody?"

The younger twin snapped out of his trance at the sound of Carey's voice echoing out of the receiver.

"Cops. Now."

With that being the only thing said, Cody slammed his phone shut and jumped out of the car, too, joining Zack where he stood.

John looked up at the sound of the boys' approach. He had a tight grip on his daughter's shoulder and smiled eerily at the twins, while Leila stared up at her brothers menacingly.

"Well if it isn't the wonder boys," John greeted sarcastically, "How ya' been, guys?"

Zack bit down hard on his tongue and tried as much as he could to ignore John's taunts, "Leila, come with us, now."

"No," she instantly spat in reply, "I'm going with my _dad_."

John's grin grew wider at the emphasis Leila put on his title, "I think she's made her choice, boys."

"No-one gives a shit what you think!" Zack abruptly shot.

John simply laughed, "I know it's been a while since I've seen you two, but I'm gonna' guess that you're Zack." His eyes lingered to the features of the other twin as his vision came into contact with the scar on Cody's face, "Oh yes. Now I see the difference."

Cody gritted his teeth and pushed his hair out of his face, "Looks good to you, does it?"

"I don't have the slightest clue what you're talking about, Cody, but if you boys don't mind, Leila and I have somewhere to be."

Leila reached forward to open the backseat door, but stopped at the boys' joint cry of 'no'.

"You don't know him, Leila," Cody said, taking the lead, "You don't know anything about him, or what he's done to our family."

"Yes I do," Leila countered, "He's told me everything."

Cody's jaw dropped as Zack stepped in, just as shocked, "Really? Everything?" The older twin looked back at his brother's scar and then at the expression of determination that still lay across Leila's face, "It wasn't the truth, Lei. Anything he's told you, you shouldn't believe." Zack then directed his awareness to John, "You're a scum bag! You're not even supposed to be anywhere near Leila, and now you're lying to her just like you have me and Cody?"

"Don't call him a liar!" Leila protested, still close by John's side, "You guys are the ones who have lied to me my whole life about who my dad is!"

"With good reasoning," Cody interjected, "We're just trying to protect you, Leila."

"Oh, yeah," John said, returning to the argument, "Just like Zack was trying to protect you all those years as well, Cody?"

Both twins simultaneously felt their blood begin to severely boil over.

"Don't even go there," Cody warned.

"Yeah, don't try and pin everything that happened on us," Zack agreed, "Everything was you John, it was all you! Right from the start –"

"I what, Zack? I did everything on purpose just to -"

"No, shut up when I'm talking to you!"

John froze in a jagged silence the second that the out burst of words left Zack's lips. He raised an eyebrow, as did Leila, as he glared down his ex-stepson.

"Right from the start," Zack resumed, "you always found a way to get everything to suit your liking. When I was just a kid – a _child_ – you'd get in my thoughts and manipulate me and twist everything up and make me think you were a good person! I'm not going to let you do it anymore to me or anyone in my family!"

Leila shook her head in frightened shock. Never before had she seen either of her brothers get so worked up or angry over anything. Sure, they'd get into arguments with their parents or each other every now and again, but Leila hadn't ever felt such powerful and overbearing feelings of apprehension in their presence like the ones that were engulfing her now. She swallowed back a wave of nervous tension and brought her voice box to a dull murmur, "Why do you hate him so much?"

"Yeah, Zackary, why?" John challenged, his own rage building at Zack's eruption. Just once, he wished for a Zack and Cody free confrontation with his daughter, and especially after what the older twin had dared to shout at him beforehand, John was quickly beginning to sense himself losing all control of the words spilling from his mouth, "Because I lied and cheated? Because I broke promises to everyone close to you? Because I mangled your precious baby brother's face with a glass bottle?!"

Everything around John suddenly came to an abrupt standstill and he realised what he had just said. He glanced down at Leila, who had stiffened in complete horror and bewilderment. The twelve year old gingerly gazed up at the younger of her two brothers and allowed her eyes to trace down the length of his scar.

"No," she whispered, "No, you slipped in the bathroom and went through the shower door…"

Cody's sight fell away from his sister as the tarnished look on her face pierced right through his skin. Leila gawked back up at John and locked vision with him. The older man instantly sensed all of his ghosts coming back to haunt him, as reality slowly began to creep back in around him at the sound of sirens reverberating loudly in the close distance.

"Leila, sweetie –"

Leila shrugged out of John's grip, hastily realising the tragic error of her mistake, "No. No, I think I wanna' go with Zack and Cody."

The young girl stood defiant with her words, but soon fell to utter fear at the glimmer of fury that flashed in her father's eyes. He latched his hand back around her arm, with force. Cody and Zack instantly leapt forward – Cody grabbing her arm, too.

"John let her go," he urged. The older man refused and attempted to drag her to his car as Leila let out a yelp of slim pain. Cody panicked, "You're hurting her!"

John's head flicked around in an angry wrath and his eyes glared daggers at Cody. As the police cars rounded the corner and hastily pulled up at the scene, John succumbed to his antagonizing feelings at took a vicious swing at Cody with his right fist. The younger twin flinched and braced himself for the blow. When it didn't come, he timidly opened his eyes just in time to see Zack strike the older man across the jaw with a hard right hand. He then tugged Leila out of the man's grasp and pushed her over in Cody's direction before returning his attention to John and hitting him with a fierce left uppercut, followed by a boot to the gut.

"Police! Freeze! Hands above your head!"

John doubled over in pain and began coughing fiercely as he joined his hands on top of his head.

"You too, punk," one of the policemen said to Zack, having seen his attack on John.

"No!" Leila cried from where Cody was standing on his knees holding her in a tight embrace, tears spilling down her face.

Zack held no objection as he calmly placed his hands behind his back and felt the metal of the handcuffs lock around his wrists. He glowered down at John just as his ex-stepfather was handcuffed, too, and hauled up from the ground, looking up. Zack smirked, "I've been waiting _ten fucking years _to do that to you."

John spat a wad of blood and gazed emotionlessly at Zack, then at Cody. The younger twin shook his head and stood up, Leila still tightly hanging onto his waist, "Wow, John. Zack hit you pretty hard. When that scars over we'll have matching markings." John's eyes narrowed at the cynical quip from the younger twin, while Cody merely smiled, amused at the immense irony, "Asshole."

John swore under his breath at Cody while the police officer began to read him his rights. He stubbornly chose to ignore them.

"Leila," he pleaded, "Leila, listen sweetie, this shouldn't change anything, I love you, Leila."

Leila felt her blood run cold while she uncontrollably turned around to face her father, "No you don't! You only loved the idea of having something that my brothers didn't!"

The youngest Martin allowed her shaky hand to find Cody's while she watched as John's strong, coercing demeanor shattered around him for the final time at his daughter's rejection of him seconds before he was shoved in the back of a police car and driven out of their lives, left with nothing but his own misery and the company of his accursed demons.

Leila then furiously wiped her eyes while she and Cody watched as Zack was forcefully sat in the back of one of the two remaining police cars, "Zack!" she whined anxiously.

"Shh," Cody consoled, pulling her back into another hug. He tenderly stroked her hair as she continued to cry softly into his chest, "They'll let him go. He'll be fine."

The sound of the ignition bringing the police car to an explosive start caused Cody's head to snap up, as at the last minute, he caught eye contact with his brother. Zack stared back, feeling Cody's scared glance penetrate through him, and returned it with a brave smile and a nod of his head.

Cody mimicked the same motion and gently rubbed Leila's back as two police officers approached them for questioning, "He'll be ok. Are you?"

On first instinct, Leila gradually nodded her head, but soon brought the action to a shrill stop and reached her hand up to her neckline, noticing the absence of her locket. Her mind slowed with hesitation for a moment until she suddenly remembered where the treasured piece of jewelry was.

The thought of even being related to John now left a sick taste in Leila's mouth, but as she broke away from Cody and permitted her eyes to stretch up the road where the police car that held her father could still be vaguely seen, the recognition and knowing that her necklace – a piece of her – would be with him now and forever more made her want to fall off the face of the Earth right then and there.

-xXx-

Ten sets of eyes all sprung to the door of the otherwise empty lobby as the sound of it squeaking open ricocheted throughout the entire ground floor of the hotel.

"Sons of bitches…" Zack mused angrily to himself, rubbing the section of his wrist that was still pulsing with pain from when the police had cuffed his hands together so tightly. Immediately after he had taken his first step on the carpeted lobby floor, Zack was nearly thrown right off his feet by a pair of arms the seized him around the waist.

"Zack!"

Zack gazed down and instantly stretched his lips into a smile, "Leila," he exclaimed, kneeling down to her level and constricting the grip he held around her, "Lei, I was so worried about you."

"I know," she whimpered, trying to refrain herself from spilling more tears, "I'm so, so, so sorry."

"It's ok. You didn't know. As long as you're ok, it's ok," he urged, forcing himself to stand up and break away from her grasp. The second that he did, Zack was bombarded with fifty million different questions from everyone that rushed towards him.

Along with Cody and their parents, Bailey, Maddie, London, Moesby, Aidan and his mum, Natalie, had all gathered in the lobby awaiting Zack's return.

Zack laughed to himself, feeling slightly overwhelmed, and held his hands up, "Whoa, guys, one at a time."

Cody stepped out of the crowd without a seconds' though, "Are you ok?"

Another grin crept across Zack's face, "That depends. Where's my car?"

"I drove Leila and I home in it – you left your keys in the ignition," Cody explained quickly, "What happened with the police?"

"Seriously, it was nothing," Zack said, scoffing, "Once they knew the gist of everything that had happened, they let me off with a warning. They knew I was only looking out for you guys."

"Oh, Zack," Carey cooed, pulling her eldest son into a hug. Moments later, she ripped herself away from his clutches and held him at arms' length, "Wait, what about John?"

Zack paused in hesitation for a second or two, looking down at Leila, but soon shook his head at his own deliberation. He wasn't going to keep any secrets from her anymore, "He got done for breaking the conditions of his restraining order and for attempted assault." Everyone in the lobby basked in silence of the good news for a satisfying moment.

Leila stared up at Zack and, much to his delight, she smiled softly at him, "So I don't have to see him again?"

Zack instantly shook his head, "Nope. Never, ever again. None of us do."

The small crowd of friends all then broke out into cries of 'thank goodness' and began happily chit-chatting amongst themselves, while Zack reached forward and tugged on Cody's shirt, beckoning him over to where he and Leila were still standing.

Cody placed a quick peck on Bailey's cheek and then made his way over to his siblings.

Looking into Zack's eyes, Cody instantly felt a huge weight life from his shoulders. Every day for the past ten years, there had always been something eerily nerving about the look that lay in Zack's eyes. Something that told Cody that his brother didn't feel like he was whole or that he wasn't ever totally happy. And now for the first time in a long time, the older twin actually looked genuinely and completely content.

Cody grinned at the heavenly though of this and swiftly towed Zack into his arms, sealing him in yet another hug.

"Hey, c'mon man," Zack said, returning the embrace, "I was only gone a couple of hours."

Cody rolled his eyes, ignoring his brother's sarcasm. He lowered his voice, "Thanks Zack. You never let me down."

Zack beamed, breathing a subtle sigh of relief to have Cody safe in his arms with no newly conceived injuries, "Just doing my job, bro."

The twins then parted as Zack directly turned to Leila and stared her down with a suspicious smile.

The blonde girl frowned, "What?"

"I've got something for you."

Leila's features expanded in excitement as Zack then pulled out a long, gold chain from his pocket and dangled it in front of her – the shell locket glimmering under the lights of the lobby.

"You got it back!" she announced, taking it from her brother's hand, "But how?"

"I'm capable of absolutely anything, Leila, you should know that by now."

The youngest Martin laughed at Zack's mysterious explanation as she then placed the locket back around her neck and sealed the clasp securely.

The sensation of the worn gold brushing against her skin sent shivers up Leila's spine. She still couldn't believe that she had been sucked in by John's story of absolute propaganda enough to actually remove her most treasured possession from around her neck. Without it, she didn't even feel like herself.

"I'm sorry guys," she spoke again.

"Leila, it's ok," Cody continued to insist, "You didn't know what you were getting yourself into."

"But I still shouldn't have believed anything he told me."

"That's what he does, though," Zack interjected, his voice leaking with utter sincerity, "He manipulates everything to his liking – he always has. It doesn't matter who he's talking to. Besides, Cody and Mum and Dad and me should have never lied to you like we did. We won't ever keep anything from you ever again, right, Cody?"

Cody nodded his head without delay, "Right. We promise. And we'll always be here for you."

"And each other," Zack added, placing a hand on each of his siblings' shoulders.

"Right," Cody repeated with a smile. The corner of his lips upturned even further as he leaned forward and reduced the tone of his voice, "Especially since Bailey and I are gonna' have a new baby in a few months that'll need to be looked out for by all of us."

After a second or two, the initial thrill of the news eventually kicked in as Zack and Leila both gasped in pleasant surprise.

"Really?" Zack asked, "It was positive?"

Cody nodded proudly and quickly caught Leila in his arms as she threw herself at him, "Oh my gosh, I'm gonna' be an aunt?! Do you think the baby will look like you?"

Cody shrugged, "Maybe. As long as it doesn't have a scar like mine, I'll be happy."

"Hey, if you ask me, you've never looked better," Zack said in response to his younger brother's dry attempt at a joke.

Cody gazed up at his brother and smirked, trying to hide his appreciation, though his expression soon changed as he saw a new face approach Zack from behind. Zack frowned at Cody's appearance and instinctively turned around, his brow deepening at the sight of Maddie waiting to gain his attention.

"Zack? Can we talk?"

Maddie waited nervously while Zack seemed to be seriously mulling over whether to accept her request or not. Gradually, he lifted his shoulders and heaved them back down, walking away from his brother and sister over to where Maddie stood.

"What's the problem?" he instantly asked.

Maddie bit her lip, recognising the no-bullshit tone in Zack's voice. As much as it may have hurt her pride to do so, Maddie shook off her coyness and licked her lips, "You were right."

Zack raised an eyebrow, "I was right? About what?"

"Trent."

The older twin was somewhat thrown back by the bluntness of Maddie confession, "Come again?"

Maddie sighed, "Bailey and I were out earlier today looking around for Leila in case she had changed her mind about going to see John and was hanging around town, or something, and we caught Trent playing tonsil hockey with some girl at a restaurant on the other side of town. You were right."

Maddie stood firm, arms folded against her chest, waiting for Zack to say something smug – 'I told you so', or something along those lines. Instead, her expression softened as she saw Zack's turn to disappointment.

"Wow. I'm sorry, Maddie."

"You are?"

"Of course I am. I mean, sure, I knew the guy was no good, but I didn't want you getting hurt."

Maddie hastily swallowed as she sensed an unfamiliar feeling flutter about her stomach. It wasn't that it was a feeling that she had never had before, but rather, it was a feeling that she had never had _around Zack _before. A feeling that she vaguely recognised as… attraction?

"Just answer me one question," Maddie went on, her face flushing a dim colour of red, "You told me that he wasn't good enough for me. How did you know?"

Zack simply shrugged his shoulders again, certain in his answer, "Because nobody's good enough for you, Maddie."

The butterflies doing flips in Maddie's tummy suddenly started to speed up. She couldn't believe how blind she had been. Ever since she was a fifteen year old girl working at the Tipton candy counter, all she ever said that she wanted was a nice, sweet, loving guy. She may have also mentioned once or twice that she wanted that same guy to be as smart as she was, but that was a factor nowhere near as important as having someone who genuinely cared for her. And all this time, that guy had been standing right in front of her.

"Ya' know, Zack," Maddie sang sweetly, he lips surging in a cheeky grin, "I really think you should take me out somewhere this weekend."

Zack furrowed his brow again in confusion, "You mean for drinks like we do every Friday night?"

"A little like there, yeah," Maddie complied. She strolled casually towards him and placed a dainty hand on the side of his face, "But I'm thinking somewhere a lot nicer and just the two of us."

Before Zack even had the chance to comprehend what his roommate was implying, Maddie pulled his head towards hers and placed a tender kiss on his lips, the warmth and spectacle of his touch coursing through her entire body.

Zack felt his eyes enlarge to the size of saucers and quickly made the most of his dream come true before Maddie gently parted from his grip and gazed into his bright, blue eyes, smiling.

Forcing himself to find his voice, Zack stuttered a little and ultimately brought it back to life, "Yes. Sure. Definitely!"

Maddie giggled, biting her lip. Zack felt his body tingle at the angelic sound of her laughter reverberating in his brain. He took a hold of her hand which was still sitting against his face and entwined his fingers between hers. Something about it felt so completely right - for both Zack and Maddie.

The affection that Zack had always pined for and believed in whole-heartedly had finally clawed its way to the surface, and just like he told her as Maddie continued to gaze dreamily at him, "I always knew you'd be my princess, sweet thang."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the lobby, Leila stood tentatively on the cusp of deliberation, trying to decide whether or not now was a good time to go and talk to Aidan.

She didn't remember word for word what she had said to him during their argument only hours beforehand, but one thing she did know for certain was that she had brought up his granddad - and that only meant that whatever she had said she was seriously going to regret.

Taking a deep breath, Leila took a step forward, heading in the direction of where Aidan and Natalie were standing with Mr. Moesby, when out of the blue, she felt a gentle hand come into contact with her shoulder.

Looking up, Leila locked vision with the last pair of eyes she expected to see.

"Hey, sweetie."

Leila forced a faint smile at Kurt, "Hi."

Kurt sighed and scratched the back of his neck, not knowing - perhaps for the first time ever - what to say to Leila. He rubbed her shoulder, "How about you and me go for a walk up to your room or something, hey? I'm guessing you might want to get away from all this attention anyway."

Leila remained in silent thought for a second or two, taking another glance at Aidan, before turning back to Kurt and slowly nodding her head, "Ok."

Once the two had made it into the elevator, Leila was quickly becoming aware of the distance between her and Kurt. Although he was only in the opposite corner of the small space, Leila had never felt further away from him ever before. He kept looking up every couple of seconds, still trying to figure out what there possibly was to say her.

"Look, Leila…"

The young girl glanced up, anticipating what Kurt would say, but much to her disappointment, he merely trailed off at a prolonged loss of words.

She heaved a guilty breath, "I'm sorry," she mumbled, "I don't know what I was thinking."

"Don't be," Kurt said, suddenly finding his voice, "We shouldn't have ever kept anything like that from you. You had a right to know. We just thought that what we were doing was best - your mum, brothers and me."

Leila nodded, "I know. I get it."

"Besides," Kurt went on, "I suppose it didn't really help much… if it felt like I was pushing you away, or anything, baby."

Frowning, Leila looked up at Kurt, "Why do you say that?"

Kurt pushed his hair back between his fingers, all the memories of his huge blow out with Leila from the day before flooding back to his mind, "I should be the one apologising, sweetie. I'm am so, so sorry about the argument we had, Leila."

"Don't worry -"

"No, I am worrying about it," Kurt interrupted, "I shouldn't have ever spoken to you like that. I was just so worried about where you had been and why you were acting so strange, and then when I found out about your Dad -"

"No," Leila sharply interjected. She stopped for a few moments, thinking. The immense wave of shock and utter stupidity that had washed over her once she had found out the truth about what kind of person John Mackenzie really was had taken an indescribable toll on her. What had shaken her world most of all, however, was the unearthing of the true origin of Cody's scar and what John had done to him when he was just a child. She didn't have a single ounce of faith in the fact that he ever deserved to be given the title of her father. Not now, and not ever again.

The elevator then landed at the twenty-third floor as the double doors parted. Leila looked out into the hallway, then back at Kurt, and held her hand out towards him. A smile of colossal bliss crossed the older man's face as he stepped forward and took the twelve year old's hand in his as the two then stepped out into the corridor.

"I'm Leila _Martin_," she began, "and I'm your daughter."

Within half a second, Kurt reached down and swept Leila up into his arms and hugged her closely to his chest, breathing calmly against her shoulders and indulging in the smell of her strawberry blonde hair.

It felt exactly

like the first moment that he had ever held her when she was just a tiny baby. Nothing else but being around Zack or Cody could even begin to compare with the emotion he felt when he was with his daughter. And just as he had promised her as a sixteen month old - he would **always** be there.

"I love you, Leila."

"I love you, too, Daddy."

-xXx-

The intense darkness that lined every wall and corner spilled out into the rest of the room, adding to the eerie noises of creaks and groans that rumbled the narrow space to the core. Only when the door to her right slowly screeched open, allowing a blinding, yellow light to shine in from the hallway, did Leila pull her tear stained face up from her lap, breath held in.

"Leila?"

The soft, familiar voice echoed in Leila's brain as she felt her lungs expand in relief just before Aidan joined her in the hotel's fire exit and stepped into her line of vision.

"Are you ok, Lei?"

Leila held her strong stature, nodding her head. Aidan raised a sceptical eyebrow, immediately causing his best friend to break down into a mass of choking sobs.

Aidan dashed to her side and sat down, "Hey, come on, everything turned out ok."

Leila stubbornly shook her head, "How could I have been so stupid?"

"You're not stupid! There's a difference between being stupid and being curious."

Scoffing at her friend's attempts to make her feel better, Leila wiped her eyes, gazing up at the spiralling metal staircases that hung above where they sat, "I should've listened to you. You got that there must have been an important reason why Mum, Dad, Zack and Cody didn't tell me about him." Leila then reached up to her neck and carefully took her locket between her fingers, "I almost lost this."

Aidan stared at the piece of gold gleaming back at him, silently recalling a few old memories, "The way I see it is that when your brothers first gave you your locket, you told me that it was their promise that they would always be there for you," he paused for a brief second, "You can't lose that, Leila, whether you have your necklace or not."

Leila remained quiet for a moment, letting these last few words solidify in her mind. In the next instant, more tears suddenly sprung to her eyes as the few recollections of her argument with Aidan that she had managed to rebuild forced their way back into her awareness.

"I almost lost you, too, though. I'm so sorry, Aidan. I shouldn't have said all that stuff to you. I'm sorry."

Aidan swiftly threw an arm over Leila's shoulders, "It's fine. Seriously. I forgave you as soon as I walked out of your front door straight after. I just wanted you to be ok."

Leila allowed herself to nuzzle against Aidan's chest, taking in his sense of touch and smell, and eventually calmed down. While he continued to rub her arm up and down, Leila's brow then furrowed in confusion.

"Aidan?"

"Hm?"

"How'd you know I was in here?"

Aidan smiled to himself and tightened the grip that he held around Leila, "Your dad came back downstairs and said you were taking a nap in your suite. When I went up there and saw that it was empty, I knew to come here. It is our own secret room just for you and me, remember? For when we feel like an adventure?"

Leila completely froze at these last words that lingered sweetly from Aidan's mouth. She could've sworn she even felt her heart skip a beat.

Unwillingly breaking away from the surprisingly enticing scent of Aidan's clothing, Lela glanced up and gazed into the set of blue orbs that locked with hers.

"You know I could never hate you, right?" she murmured, "You're my best friend."

The corner of Aidan's mouth upturned into a smile, as he licked his lips and timidly began to bring his face closer to Leila's.

As she could sense his warm breath just inches away, Leila closed her eyes and met Aidan's lips halfway, the two of them gently pressing together in seven or eight seconds of total and utter tingles, heart warmth and exhilaration.

It was nothing like she had ever felt before. There wasn't anything that could possibly compare. It pushed both her imagination and sense of reality to new lengths like nothing else could, and certainly filled any void in her that even existed a lot better than a violent, alcoholic father could.

Once they parted, Leila opened her eyes to find the exact same look of gleeful happiness laid across Aidan's face. His grin grew wider, sending the butterflies in her stomach soaring to new heights. And although she may not have entirely been aware of it - for the first time in her life, everything was absolutely perfect.

Beaming inside and out, Aidan could almost feel his granddad giving him and pat on the back and winking cheekily at him. He felt his heart race at the taste of Leila's peach lip gloss that danced across his lips,

"I know."

* * *

********

Contrary to popular belief, I have not fallen off the face of the Earth, I was simply finishing (finally) this story for you guys!

DID WE LIKE IT?!

I'm sorry it took so long. In my defence, if I deserve any, I actually didn't start writing this till part way through January because I was busying myself with my other story, too.

This story was so fun to write, but it took sooooo much work, as well. I really, really, really hope you guys all liked it and enjoyed the technique I went with, cause it'll be a damn long time before I ever attempt something like this ever again, LOL.

So, as always, please leave a review to let me know what you think, or if you need any lose ends tied up, cause I know there's so much there to take it.

I hope the ending all worked for everyone, too, and we were all satisfied with John's ultimate demise… sort of, haha.

********

Oh, and Ellie, the 'chicks dig scars' part was totally yours. Consider it a plug for all the lost articles of clothing and yak herders you've ever put in your stories for me :)

Thanks a million, zillion, trillion to everyone who kept up with this story. You guys are all legends! Till next time,

**Reneyyyyyyyyy x.**


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